Boris Johnson issues veiled olive branch to Russians against Putin: 'This is not about you!'

Boris Johnson told MPs that the war in Ukraine was "not about the Russian people" but rather about "the Putin regime."

His comments came in response to a question by the Labour MP for Sefton Central, Bill Esterson.

Mr Esterson asked the Prime Minister "to end the suspicion of conflicts of interest with Putin", the Conservative Party, and Mr Johnson himself.

He asked: "Will the Prime Minister instruct the Conservative Party to give to Ukraine humanitarian causes, the £2m they accepted from Lubov Chernukhin?

"This includes £80,000 refereed to in data released today by the electoral commission."

He went on: "I know he doesn’t want to tar everyone with Russian links with the same brush, and neither do I, but leaked documents show that Vladimir Chernukhin received $8m from a member of the Russian parliament - an ally of Putin who later sanctioned by the US.

"Mr Speaker, this is an opportunity for the Conservative Party and the PM to end the suspicion of conflicts of interest with Putin, while showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people."

The Guardian reported that Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, is one of the biggest female political donors in the history of British politics.

She is a former banker and her husband is a former Russian oligarch and deputy finance minister under Putin.

Boris Johnson stated in 2015 that his party had assured him that Mr Chernukhin was not a "crony" of the Russian President.

In the chamber today, Mr Johnson responded to Mr Esterson's question forthrightly, stating: "It’s absolutely vital, Mr Speaker, if we are to have a successful outcome in what we are trying to do collectively, united with Ukraine, that we demonstrate that this is not about the Russian people, Mr Speaker, this is about the Putin regime."