As soon as the Ukrainian negotiators and Abramovich/Medinsky, following the outcome of Istanbul, had agreed on the structure of a future possible agreement in general terms, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared in Kyiv almost without warning.

"Johnson brought two simple messages to Kyiv. The first is that Putin is a war criminal; he should be pressured, not negotiated with. And the second is that even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they are not. We can sign [an agreement] with you [Ukraine], but not with him. Anyway, he will screw everyone over", is how one of Zelenskyy's close associates summed up the essence of Johnson's visit.
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Johnson’s position was that the collective West, which back in February had suggested Zelenskyy should surrender and flee, now felt that Putin was not really as powerful as they had previously imagined.

He said: "I'm as passionate a supporter of Ukraine as you could imagine and I often wish I was gifted militarily myself and could go and lead a foreign legion in Ukraine if I was a general, but I'm not. I've never had that training."

Johnson also spoke about how he believes that with hindsight Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky would now have accepted the loss of the Donbass and Crimea in order to stop Russia's full invasion in February 2022.
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He said: "The Ukrainians, they have to decide what they want, but clearly I think if it was February 2022 over again, I think Zelensky would accept, provided there was a Nato protection and a Nato security guarantee, I think Zelensky would accept the loss of the Donbass and the Crimea, or he would have done. Whether he can do that now, I doubt."
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Boris Johnson lobbies for Donald Trump’s minerals deal with Ukraine

Former British prime minister says of proposed deal: “Yes, it’s extortionate looked at one way, but so was Lend-Lease in 1941, wasn’t it?”

KYIV — Donald Trump's deeply controversial rare minerals deal with Ukraine got an unexpected backer Monday — former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
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The deal — openly criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid a sharp downturn in United States-Ukraine relations — involves the U.S. gaining preferential access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukraine's critical minerals.

The Trump administration had demanded that access as payback for already-provided aid for Ukraine's fightback against Russia, and has publicly declined to offer clear security guarantees or prospects of future aid for Kyiv in return.

But signing it is, Johnson argued, the only way to move forward. His comments came amid signs Ukraine itself is now moving closer to an agreement with the U.S.
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He added: "I understand how troubling it is to think that this deal might be rapacious for your country. But I really think that we need to move through this phase, recognize what this deal really is."