It was shortly after 4am on Thursday when Boris Johnson became a wartime leader.
The prime minister was woken by an aide to be informed that Vladimir Putin had announced a “special military operation” in neighbouring Ukraine.
Within half an hour he was on the phone to Voldymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, to discuss the crisis and to assure him that his country had the UK’s full support.
HuffPost UK has been given a behind-the-scenes look at how Johnson has dealt with the first days of a conflict which may well define his premiership.
‘The UK will respond decisively’
Johnson’s first public utterance on the Russian invasion came at 4.53am on Thursday, just after he came off the phone to Zelenskyy.
“I am appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine,” he said.
“President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The UK and our allies will respond decisively.”
After chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee at 7.30am, Johnson recorded an address to the nation from Downing Street which was broadcast at noon.
Sitting at the same desk where he had delivered televised statements during the Covid pandemic, Johnson condemned Russia’s “hideous and barbaric attack” on Ukraine.
“Ukraine is a country that for decades has enjoyed freedom and democracy and the right to choose its own destiny,” he said.
“We – and the world – cannot allow that freedom just to be snuffed out.
We cannot and will not just look away.”
‘Right and the rule of law’
A hastily-convened virtual meeting of G7 leaders took place on Thursday afternoon, where Boris Johnson said that in the long-term, the west must wean itself off its dependence on Russian oil and gas.
“We’ve got to get Putin’s hands off our windpipe,” he said.
At the same meeting, HuffPost UK has been told, US president Joe Biden said it was important to remember that this was not a war between two sides. “There’s only one side – right and the rule of law.” Everyone on the call agreed, with Johnson responding: “Hear hear.”
Not a SWIFT resolution
There was no such unanimity, however, when it came to Britain’s call for Russia to be removed from the SWIFT system, a key financial network that connects thousands of banks around the world.
Germany, along with several other countries who fear the impact it would have on their own economies, is opposed to the move and, as the current G7 chair, refused to even let it be discussed at the meeting.
One Downing Street source said: “Boris tried to argue for it, and they just came back and said ‘let’s stick to the communique we have’, so it got nowhere.”
The tensions around SWIFT have come to symbolise the difficulties in achieving a united western position on how to punish Russia for invading its neighbour.
On Friday morning, Johnson dialled in to a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a group of 10 northern European countries including former Soviet states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
One person on the call told HuffPost UK: “Almost all of those in the meeting supported removing Russia from SWIFT, as well as providing more military support to Ukraine.
“The reality for some of those countries is that they have to live with Russia rehearsing attacks on them and carrying out military exercises. There is a shared sense of horror at what is happening in Ukraine.”
Targeting Putin and his cronies – but is it enough?
At 5pm on Thursday, Johnson was on his feet in the House of Commons setting out the government’s plans to impose “the largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen”.
He unveiled 10 measures, including the targeting of five super-rich oligarchs with links to the Putin regime.
The UK will also impose an asset freeze against all major Russian banks and introduce legislation preventing Russia from raising money on the UK’s financial markets.
“We will continue on a remorseless mission to squeeze Russia from the global economy piece by piece, day by day and week by week,” Johnson said.
Initially at least, the announcement had little effect, with Russian troops continuing their remorseless advance towards the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Following a second call with Johnson shortly after 7am yesterday, Zelenskyy made clear his frustration at the response so far by Britain and its western allies.
In a tweet, he said: “We demand effective counteraction to the Russian Federation. Sanctions must be further strengthened.”
At the JEF meeting later that morning, the leaders agreed that more sanctions were needed, including focusing on Putin’s inner circle.
“More support must be given to Ukraine, as a matter of the greatest urgency,” Johnson told the meeting. “Putin’s damaging actions can never be normalised, or his aggression against Ukraine ever accepted as a fait accompli.”
Last night, the sanctions were ratcheted once more when Johnson told a meeting of Nato leaders that Putin himself, as well as his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, would be targeted over their “revanchist mission” to overturn the post-Cold War order.
‘Volodymyr, Putin will fail’
Johnson’s second early morning call with Zelenskyy, HuffPost UK has been told, was an “emotional” one, with Zelensky describing in detail how his country was now under sustained attack.
A Number 10 source said: “Boris was quite emotional listening to him describing the tanks approaching Kyiv, and of the massacre of the 13 Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island.
“He told Zelensky ‘my whole country is willing you on and we’re full of admiration for your bravery. Know this, Volodymyr, we believe Putin will fail and that’s now a key objective for the UK government’.”
Don’t forget levelling up
As HuffPost UK revealed last week, Johnson’s allies are increasingly confident that he will survive the partygate affair.
But it would be foolish to think, with the Metropolitan Police still to decide whether or not he should be fined, that the PM is now out of the woods.
It is only a few weeks since Tory MPs were submitting letters of no confidence in his leadership on an almost daily basis, and there are many who would still dearly love to see him fall, war or no war.
But after two years of Covid, and with an election due in 2024, Johnson is keen that the Ukraine crisis does not dominate the government’s work in the months ahead.
“He’s told his ministers that no matter how big Ukraine is, it’s no excuse for us losing track of everything else we’ve got on,” said one key ally.
“He’s going to remind the cabinet that whether their focus is on Ukraine, they’ve got to get on with their jobs. It’s not a time to stop focusing on levelling up.
“He’s keen that while giving Ukraine all the attention it needs, not to let everything else slip.”
Whether he will be given the chance to see that work through to fruition remains to be seen.