Ukraine crisis: Boris Johnson says Russia plans for biggest war in Europe since 1945

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that Russia could be planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945”.

In an interview with BBC broadcast on Sunday, he said, “All the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun,” adding that intelligence indicates that Moscow aims to invade Kyiv soon. 

Intelligence suggests Russia intends to launch an invasion that will encircle Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Johnson said.

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“I’m afraid that that is what the evidence points to. There’s no burnishing it,” he added.

Further, he warned that this could be the biggest war in Europe since e1945, just in terms of sheer scale. “I’m afraid to say that the plan we are seeing is for something that could be really the biggest war in Europe since 1945, just in terms of sheer scale,” he said.

People needed to not only consider the potential loss of life of the people of Ukraine, but also of “young Russians”, Johnson forewarned, reported BBC.

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“People need to understand the sheer cost in human life that could entail,” he said.

Speaking in Munich at the annual security council of world leaders, the PM also alerted Russia of further sanctions that would freeze its companies ‘trading in pounds and dollars’. He said, “The lesson of (the Russian seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014) is that you can’t just let Vladimir Putin get away with it,” reported the BBC. 

The war in Ukraine would be ‘bloody and protracted’ and any going into one would reflect ‘illogical’ thinking by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “I think it’s vital for us all now to get over what a catastrophe it would be for Russia,” he added.

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Russia has troops placed along Ukraine’s borders, sparking fears of invasion. While the Vladimir Putin-led government has constantly denied the claims, they have asked NATO to block Ukraine’s entry into the organization and reduce their military presence in eastern Europe. 

Days after the Russian military said it was pulling back its troops after they had completed their drills, the White House said US President Joe Biden’s national security team believed Moscow could still launch an attack “at any time”.

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Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich nations said they had seen no evidence Russia is reducing its military activity in the area and remained “gravely concerned” about the situation, according to a report by Reuters.