Good morning. Boris Johnson is in Abu Dhabi, within the United Arab Emirates, the place he has been assembly the crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. In a pooled interview, he mentioned there was no prospect of Ukraine becoming a member of Nato any time quickly. Requested about President Zelenskiy’s acceptance yesterday that Ukraine wouldn’t be a part of Nato, Johnson replied:
I talked to Volodymyr [Zelenskiy], once more, yesterday. And you already know, in fact, I perceive what he’s saying about Nato and the truth of the place. And all people’s at all times mentioned, and we now have made clear to Putin, there’s no method Ukraine goes to hitch Nato any time quickly. However the choice about the way forward for Ukraine has acquired to be for the Ukrainian individuals and for Volodymyr Zelensky as their elected chief, and we’ll again him.
It’s not clear fairly what the importance of those remarks is likely to be. Vladimir Putin desires Ukrainian membership of Nato to be dominated out for good, and so Zelenskiy’s remark – which Johnson has semi-endorsed this morning – could also be a touch that the peace negotiations, which have thus far been fruitless, are nudging into extra severe territory.
However equally it is likely to be that Zelenskiy and Johnson are saying what they assume is clear, with out ulterior goal (a extra widespread occurence in politics than one may assume). Requested concerning the significance of Zelenskiy’s comment in an interview on the As we speak programme this morning, Liz Truss, the overseas secretary, replied:
It’s a matter for Ukraine whether or not or not they determine to hitch Nato, and naturally a matter for Nato members.
I’ve at all times thought that that isn’t the actual problem, that it’s a smokescreen. In case you take a look at all of Putin’s public statements – his Munich safety convention speech in 2007, his essay of final yr – that is about recreating a larger Russia, and primarily subordinating Ukraine beneath Russian authority, in addition to extending extra broadly to different Jap European states.
That is an evaluation shared by the Economist’s Oliver Carroll.
In his pooled interview this morning Johnson additionally performed down the prospect of his journey to the Gulf in the present day – after the UAE, he will probably be in Saudia Arabia – being about persuading the Saudis to extend their provide of oil to the west. That is what No 10 appeared to be briefing on the finish of final week, when the journey was first reported, however in the present day Johnson claimed his go to was simply as a lot about drumming up extra funding in wind power. In his pooled interview he mentioned:
The rationale for coming right here is that it’s not simply that they’ve acquired oil. They’re additionally a number of the greatest traders right here, within the Gulf, in UK renewables, in our wind farms. And that’s what we’ll be speaking about.
Right here is the agenda for the day.
10am: Kevin Foster, the immigration minister, and Lord Harrington, the brand new minister for refugees, give proof to the Commons residence affairs committee.
Morning: Keir Starmer is on a go to to Huddersfield, inspecting a retrofitting challenge.
10.15am (UK time): Boris Johnson is because of arrive in Saudi Arabia. He’s assembly Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, at 1pm, and he’s anticipated to file a clip for the media within the late afternoon.
12pm: Dominic Raab, the deputy PM, faces Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour chief, at PMQs.
12pm: Gordon Brown, the previous Labour prime minister, holds a briefing on new polling from Our Scottish Future, the group he set as much as marketing campaign for an alternative choice to “each ‘No Change Unionism’ and ‘No Compromise Nationalism’”.
After 12.30pm: MPs start a debate on an SNP movement on Ukrainian refugees, saying they need to not want to use for visas previous to their arrival within the UK.
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