Boris Johnson inadvertently thanks Vladimir Putin for ‘inspirational leadership’

Conservative former prime minister Boris Johnson (Oli Scarff/PA)

Boris Johnson made a significant verbal slip-up as he thanked Vladimir Putin instead of Volodymyr Zelensky for his “inspirational leadership”.

In his first major contribution as a backbench MP during a Commons debate, the Conservative former British prime minister said it is important to “double down in our defence of the Ukrainians” if Mr Putin doubles down on his “aggression”.