Boris Johnson tells The Economist about his anti-Russia coalition
The British-led Joint Expeditionary Force is moving quickly against Russia
ON THE NIGHT of March 14th, while Russian forces were pounding Ukrainian cities, six leaders and other representatives of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a British-led coalition of ten northern European countries, gathered for the first time at Chequers, the country house of Britain’s prime minister. They put their phones away for security, sat down to dinner and set to work. “We agreed that Putin must not succeed in this venture,” Boris Johnson told The Economist the next day. They agreed to “co-ordinate, supply and fund” more arms and other equipment requested by Ukraine. And they declared that JEF, through exercises and “forward defence”, would seek to deter further Russian aggression—including provocations outside Ukraine that might stymie NATO or fall under its threshold.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “NATO-lite”
Britain March 19th 2022
- Boris Johnson tells The Economist about his anti-Russia coalition
- Britain finally comes up with a scheme to help Ukrainian refugees
- The London Stock Exchange plans a new bourse for private companies
- After years in jail, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe returns to Britain
- Chilly British homes are likely to get chillier
- Does Rishi Sunak have the stomach for what he must swallow?
From the March 19th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
Britain’s brokers are diversifying and becoming less British
London’s depleted stockmarket is forcing them to change
What a buzzy startup reveals about Britain’s biotech sector
Lots of clever scientists, not enough business nous
Britain’s government lacks a clear Europe policy
It should be more ambitious over getting closer to the EU
The Rachel Reeves theory of growth
The chancellor says it’s her number-one priority. We ask her what that means for Britain