UPDATE - Putin underestimated Ukrainians' passionate desire to defend country, unity of the West, says Boris Johnson

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM BRITISH PRIME MINISTER; REVISES DECK

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin underestimated Ukrainians’ “passionate desire” to defend their country and the unity of the Western allies, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday.

Speaking alongside Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw, where he is on a visit, Johnson told a press conference that the "tragedy" playing out in Ukraine is "worse" than many predicted.

"There is an unfolding disaster in our European continent," he said, speaking just a few hundred kilometers (miles) from the border with war-torn Ukraine.

Johnson said Putin has "fatally underestimated two things."

"The first is the passionate desire of the Ukrainian people to defend and protect their own country, their belief in their sovereign right to defend themselves, and I pay tribute by the way to the leadership and courage that is being shown by (President) Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” he said.

"I think that Vladimir Putin has also underestimated the unity and the resolve of the West and of the rest of the world. We will keep up the economic pressure,” he added, calling it “probably one of the most powerful packages of sanctions advanced against any country in the last few decades.”

-‘Putin will fail’

"I'm more convinced than ever, as this hideous conflict progresses, that Putin will fail and I believe that Putin must fail, and that we will succeed in preserving and protecting a sovereign and democratic Ukraine. That is our joint objective," said the British premier.

Johnson and his Polish counterpart “discussed the talks between Ukraine and Russia and the long-term disinformation that had misled Russian troops.”

They “welcomed EU and Germany’s support for defence and humanitarian efforts,” a statement from Downing Street said.

Later, in a separate speech, Johnson said the UK would take in 200,000 people and “maybe more” as the humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Ukraine-Russia war and people have been fleeing to neighboring countries.

Responding to a question, Johnson said Putin is already using “barbaric and indiscriminative tactics” in Ukraine, adding that he has seen reports of cluster bombs and thermobaric bombs, but they will “need to be verified.”

Russian officials need to understand that people are collecting evidence and that those who use illegal weapons against civilians could be brought “to the bar of history and … or rather to the International Criminal Court,” said Johnson.

Later Tuesday, Johnson is also due to visit Estonia, another ex-Soviet state and NATO member, where he is to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. ​​​​​​​