There are a lot of theories as to why Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine in late February, but United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson thinks he has a found cause for such violence — toxic masculinity.
On Tuesday, Johnson told German television network ZDF: “You need more women in positions of power. If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn’t, but if he were, I really don’t think he would’ve embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has.”
“If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it’s what he is doing in Ukraine,” Johnson added.
Johnson’s comments were made during the meeting of G7 leaders in Europe and can be seen here:
Johnson has also been accused of toxic masculinity in the past. On one occasion, it was reported that he told British politician Jeremy Corbyn to “man up.”
That phrase rankled leftists across the globe:
Toxic masculinity 👇 https://t.co/nshx4moHV9
— ARTIST TAXI DRIVER (@chunkymark) October 25, 2019
Regarding the G7’s effort to assist Ukraine in their war against Russia, Johnson seemed hopeful, but added, “It’s not going to be easy. I’m not going to pretend that this can be done quickly.”
“I think what was so striking from the conversations is that people really do want to give the Ukrainians strategic endurance,” he continued.
“We can’t be more Ukrainian than the Ukraine, right? You know, it’s for them to decide but they want to help Zelensky to get in the best possible position to talk if and when talks eventually come,” Johnson said regarding peace talks to end the war.
The G7 is also reportedly pursuing a cap on Russian oil prices to help blunt Putin’s financial strength.
Members of the G7 are meeting in Austria to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as climate change and public health. In one background press call, a senior Biden administration official announced that G7 leaders would “set a global price cap for Russian oil in shipments” to countries outside of the seven nations, which include Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Canada, and the United States.
“The goal here is to starve Russia — starve Putin of his main source of cash and force down the price of Russian oil to help blunt the impact of Putin’s war at the pump,” the official said. “The dual objectives of G7 leaders have been to take direct aim at Putin’s revenues, particularly through energy, but also to minimize the spillovers and the impact on the G7 economies and the rest of the world.”
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.