The capture of Kyiv by Vladimir Putin will be a "catastrophe" bigger than Vietnam for American leadership on the world stage. This was stated by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Washington, The Telegraph reports.

According to the politician, the Russian president's ultimate goal is to "capture Kyiv" because he "wants to take control of the entire country."

"If that happens, I think it will be an absolute disaster for the West, a disaster for America and any concept of American leadership," Johnson said.

In his opinion, Russia's success in Ukraine would be a greater defeat for the United States than in Vietnam, because after 75 years of "success", NATO would be defeated for the first time in a European war.

There is no real peace deal that Ukrainians could conclude to end the fighting, Johnson emphasized.

"They don't see a deal they can make with Putin. I mean, nobody comes up to me sneakily and says: 'Oh, you know, by the way, we could trade this and that, and let's make a deal.' No one offers that," Johnson said.

However, the politician said that there are ways for Putin to "end this" and still be able to "claim some kind of moral victory."

At the same time, he expressed the opinion that Donald Trump would abandon his "isolationist rhetoric" regarding the war in Ukraine if he wins the US elections in November.

According to the former prime minister, the situation with the delay in providing aid to Ukraine is "terrible" and he is "praying" that Republicans in Congress will end the $60 billion blockade of funding for Ukraine.