Revelations from "Johnsonuka" and the exposure of Trump: What political updates have created a buzz?

The title of the memoirs by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, "Unleashed," can be literally translated as "unleashed," but it is more accurately interpreted as "broken free from the leash." Clearly, the title signifies the state of the author, who, having shed the burdens of high office, candidly shares insights into the geopolitical behind-the-scenes. It is worth noting that this is not Johnson's first book; he has previously authored a biography of Churchill, a history of London, a work on the Roman Empire, and a novel.

His new book, often referred to as "Johnsonuk" in Ukraine, is written in the genre of an apologia – it recounts the key milestones of his political career from Mayor of London to leader of the Conservative Party and head of government. Notably, the epilogue narrates his last meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in early September 2022. The Queen, we recall, passed away two days later, and Mr. Johnson was among her last visitors. By that time, his resignation from the premiership had already been determined, but he, by his own admission, held no malice towards his opponents, and the Queen, according to him, supported his philosophical outlook by succinctly stating: "It's pointless to hold a grudge."

Meanwhile, the 700-plus pages of memoirs serve as clear evidence that Boris Johnson did not heed the advice of the late Elizabeth II, as throughout his book he repeatedly delivers rhetorical blows to all his critics, whom he unabashedly labels as his enemies. Among them are the Labour Party members who "betrayed" Johnson during Brexit and the Conservatives – staunch opponents of the process. Interestingly, Brexit serves as the book's leitmotif, with passionate arguments against the European Union and its supporters in the UK woven throughout. Due to his painful fixation on this case, there is little room left for global politics in the book. However, there is still some space. For instance, in the section dedicated to Johnson's two years as Foreign Secretary, there is a chapter titled "Putin the Poisoner." In it, the former head of the British government recounts how he perceived the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia as a challenge to official London and organized an international response in the form of expelling 150 Russian diplomats from NATO member countries and their allies.

Johnson presents the expulsion of these individuals as a significant diplomatic victory and dedicates several pages of his memoirs to it. According to him, this diplomatic episode marks the awakening of the West after a prolonged slumber, as previously "major politicians turned a blind eye to acts of aggression from Russia, from the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko to the annexation of Crimea, the occupation of parts of Donbas, and intervention in Syria."

At the same time, Boris Johnson comes out with his own reflections. In particular, he recalls how reading Dostoevsky, studying the Russian language, and a school trip to the USSR where he tasted ice cream and vodka made him a Russophile. "I loved Russia – in the sense that I loved the Russian language, culture, literature, painting, and landscape," admits the former occupant of 10 Downing Street. He also remembers that after the collapse of the "Soviet Union," he felt that Russia had freed itself from the shackles of "Leninism-Stalinism" and would soon return to the family of European powers. "At that time, it was much easier to be a Russophile since Russia as a state seemed genuinely weakened, and the chilling sense of nuclear threat had practically evaporated," Johnson writes.

"When Boris Yeltsin was replaced in the Kremlin by a former KGB officer, British elites were slow to take him seriously. The attitude towards Vladimir Putin during his only official visit to Britain in 2003 can only be described as condescending," emphasizes the former British Prime Minister in his memoirs.

"Meanwhile, Putin viewed NATO's eastward expansion with suspicion and increasingly saw it as a threat to Russia. Sensing the Alliance's weakness after the failures of military operations by the US and allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, he annexed Crimea. The West, instead of responding decisively, imposed laughable sanctions and came up with nothing better than the Normandy process, which equated Kyiv with Moscow, that is, the victim with the aggressor. In it, France and Germany acted like therapists trying to reconcile quarreling spouses, each of whom was right in their own way," Boris Johnson emphasizes.

The former head of the British government proposes a whole series of possible reasons why the Kremlin dictator decided to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine: a sense of threat from NATO, nostalgia for the USSR, the fear that the success of democratic Ukraine would lead to the overthrow of his power in Russia, as well as the impact of war on oil prices.

Interestingly, it turns out that Johnson met with Putin only once, and this occurred during an international conference on Libya in 2020. The recounting of their last phone call before the invasion contains nothing particularly remarkable: the Russian dictator repeated his tired mantra about the threat to Russia if Ukraine joined NATO, while Johnson responded that the Alliance is primarily a defensive structure. In the end, whatever drives Putin, Mr. Johnson has no doubt that his infamous "special operation" is purely black-and-white, leaving no room for shades of gray. "Putin represents evil, while Ukraine represents good, and it is Europe's moral duty to support it," writes Johnsonuk. He details how his sympathy for Ukraine was born during a trip to Kyiv when he was Foreign Secretary. In particular, Johnson recalls drinking with veterans who had been repelling Russian aggression in Donbas since 2014 and meeting with the widows of fallen soldiers. "It was clear to me that after thirty years of independence, Ukrainians were choosing their own path – away from Moscow and towards a pluralistic, open, Western European model of society," writes the former UK Prime Minister. He saw his mission as ensuring that official London unequivocally and irrevocably supported Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty – unlike France and Germany, "which were too attached to their ties with Moscow."

Additionally, Boris Johnson reminds in his new book that under his leadership, the UK was the first European country to send weapons to Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion began, and that he was the first foreign leader to visit Kyiv after the start of Putin's "special operation." Moreover, "Johnsonuk" emphasizes that at every stage, it was London that first responded to President Zelensky's requests, "while Washington, Paris, and Berlin weighed the risks and worried about Putin's potential response." By the way, the image of Volodymyr Zelensky in the book is depicted as follows: a leader who believes in a free and democratic Ukraine, "politely yet insistently demanding help from the West and determined to fight to the bitter end." The current occupant of Bankova is perhaps the only character in the book, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, whom Johnson speaks of with utmost respect.

It is quite telling that the only episode in his relationship with Zelensky that Johnsonuk felt necessary to recount in detail is his role in the negotiations with Russia in Istanbul. Some media outlets, we recall, reported citing anonymous sources that during his visit to Kyiv in April 2022, Johnson told Zelensky that he should fight Putin rather than negotiate. Subsequently, the British Prime Minister's role in the breakdown of negotiations became a subject of endless speculation.

In his memoirs, Johnson asserts that he did not dissuade Zelensky from seeking a ceasefire, but merely expressed his belief in Ukraine's victory and support from official London. "It is not my place to tell him (Zelensky – ed.) how to negotiate or to dissuade him from reaching an agreement if he thought that a deal was genuinely in his country's interest. All I wanted to convey was that if he continued the struggle and if the Ukrainians decided that they wanted to continue liberating their country from the invaders, which I was 99% sure they would, then he could count on the wholehearted support of the United Kingdom," writes Boris Johnson.

After these discussions, the former UK Prime Minister recalls that he suggested to Zelensky – "to the horror of his security team" – to take a walk around Kyiv, "even though Russian troops had just been pushed back and Russian saboteurs were still being hunted in the Ukrainian capital." Zelensky agreed, and during their walk, a man approached Johnson to express gratitude for supporting Ukraine. "Well, I thought, I'm more popular in Kyiv than in some parts of Kensington," Mr. Johnson remarked, referring to a district in central London.

In the postscript to his book, Boris Johnson lists his achievements as Prime Minister: exiting the European Union, winning elections, a rapid COVID vaccination program, and separately highlighting assistance in defending Ukraine. As some British analysts note, all these reminders are necessary given the moment at which the book was released – the Conservative Party had just suffered a crushing defeat in the elections.

Speaking of elections. Former US President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump apparently had secret communications with Putin after leaving office. This is mentioned in a new book by American journalist and Washington Post editor Bob Woodward titled "War," excerpts from which are cited by American media. The book is set to be released on October 15. It is worth noting that Bob Woodward is known for his work on the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon in 1974. He has written several bestsellers based on access to sources at the highest levels of power.

Returning to "War," it should