French President Emmanuel Macron has spent hours with Vladimir Putin trying to reach an agreement that would avoid a Russian invasion of Ukraine, only for the Russian leader to push ahead with military action. Mr Wootton criticised the “utterly humiliated” Macron for his efforts, likening him to Neville Chamberlain attempting to appease Hitler before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Mr Wootton said: “Emmanuel Macron, the French President with small man syndrome, [who] has been utterly humiliated by the Russian tyrant Putin, given he returned from Moscow and assured his citizens he’d received a pledge from Russia that the Ukraine crisis would be de-escalated”.
He continued to compare this international failure with the Prime Minister’s actions against Putin.
Mr Wootton added: “While the Labour Party would have you believe Boris Johnson is being treated as some sort of joke on the international stage, that actually couldn’t be further from the truth.
“His leadership in defending Ukraine from an illegal Russian invasion has been so effective that even Germany today reversed its appalling policy to appease, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz making the morally correct but financially devastating decision to halt the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
“Boris knows the world must hit Vladimir Putin where it hurts, his pocket, and today he led the way.
“Boris was right to stress the UK will continue to seek a diplomatic resolution till the last possible moment, we don’t want war.
READ MORE: Macron humiliated by Putin after ‘pledging not to escalate’ war threat
The PM described these actions as a “first barrage”, leaving the possibility for more to be put in place at a later date.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the sanctions, but has said that Britain “must be prepared to go further”.
Sir Keir has called for Russia to be removed from the Swift global payment system, banning trading in Russian sovereign debt and for Russian propaganda to be pulled from broadcasting around the world.
