A leading Ukrainian MP has praised Boris Johnson and the people of Britain for coming to the country’s aid.

Speaking to GB News, Oleksiy Goncharenko also said Ukraine owes a “very big thank you” to Mr Johnson.

He said: “Boris was my friend, Boris was a great fan of Ukraine and Boris is an outstanding person.

“I very much appreciate the Boris leadership in the global anti-Putin militia.

“And with that situation he has done so much for Ukraine and today in my speech, I started with special thanks to Boris Johnson, he bravely valued the use of the latest UK military equipment to the Ukrainian people, the anti-tank missiles.

“He is a real friend, standing shoulder to shoulder with us in our fight against the dictatorship of Russian aggression.

“I am in the parliament building and now we have a meeting of the parliament. I came out from there to speak with you and I just want to tell you that probably Boris Johnson is the most popular international politician in Ukraine.

“And really he showed leadership when this war started and in general the United Kingdom has shown leadership and we’re very thankful for this.

“Who will be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is an internal affair of the UK, we have all respect and we’re sure that this person will be great as Prime Minister,

“Also we need to say a very big thank you to Boris for everything which was done. I understand that in general that is the position of the United Kingdom society, to support Ukraine.

“But also Boris invested so much of his charisma and energy and I think it is important both for Ukraine and the United Kingdom because the whole international security depends on what’s going on in Ukraine today.”

Mr Goncharenko’s comments were echoed by former Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko.

Speaking to Dehenna Davison during an interview on GB News, he was asked if the new Prime Minister could forge as close a relationship with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Definitely, we enjoy bipartisan support with Great Britain and we all depend on the British people, on the British part of it,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that the war is a war for survival. We definitely enjoy the support of your great nation, so thanks for that.”

He said he has a long history of fighting against Russian and urged people not to trust the Russians.

“My recommendation with regards to Russia is these pieces of advice. One, don’t trust Putin, two, don’t be afraid of him.”