Question about Boris Johnson, Ukraine and his security

[steve2470]

I am no Boris Johnson fan, but he is the Prime Minister of the UK, one of the most powerful people in the world. He is walking through Kyiv with a pretty minimal security presence, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine.

Link to tweet

Is anyone else a tad surprised to see this ? My guess is that President Biden could never do this because of the *probable* Russian desire to assassinate him. Biden had to make his speech in Warsaw, many miles from the border.

Thanks in advance.

Steve (Anglophile)

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. The positions of President and Prime Minister are slightly different

A president, as well as being head of government like a PM, is also head of state, and as such has a higher level of security (as the British queen does). And the recent (ie since Kennedy) attempts on the lives of US presidents have made their security tighter still, and is basically set up to prevent the president going beyond a certain level of risk unless it's truly vital.

Johnson is no coward, however, and he decided this was worth it, as a show of support, which also makes him look good. With the Russian forces withdrawn beyond artillery range, an unannounced visit to Kyiv during the day (when, I think, air raids are rare) was within reasonable bounds.