Boris mocked by East AND West as Biden's spokeswoman makes 'ambushed by cake' ...

The ridicule of Boris Johnson over the Partygate scandal has extended across the East and West, with U.S. President Joe Biden's spokeswoman laughing at the Prime Minister being 'ambushed by cake' at a birthday party in No10. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday said Biden has 'never been ambushed by a cake' as she responded to a question on the lockdown-breaching parties at Downing Street.

TV channels in Russia have also been revelling in Mr Johnson's discomfort, with one branding him 'the most disliked, disrespected and ridiculed character in Britain' who was 'completely under the control and heel of his young wife' Carrie.

They declared that the Partygate report would have ended up in the 'Victorian sewers' of London if it were up to the PM. 

Mr Johnson himself squirmed during a press conference in Ukraine when he was asked by the international media why the world should take his diplomacy seriously when he cancelled a planned call with Russian President Vladimir Putin because the PM was busy fielding furious questions from MPs.

Over in the U.S., a reporter asked Psaki whether the Partygate controversy surrounding Mr Johnson had impacted President Biden and the PM's ability to press Putin on Ukraine. He then asked: 'Has the president ever been ambushed by cake?'

The White House Press Secretary, who began to laugh at the question, said: 'Has the President ever been ambushed by a cake? Not that I'm aware of.'

Tory Minister Conor Burns had defended the PM by saying he had been 'ambushed' with a birthday cake while working at Number 10 after it was revealed Mr Johnson had attended a gathering, complete with a Union Jack cake and singing, that was organised by his wife Carrie in the Cabinet Room on June 19, 2020.  

The UK was under strict Covid lockdown rules at the time and the ensuing fallout of Partygate has endangered Mr Johnson's premiership.  

It comes as a slew of Tory MPs, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, publicly decried Johnson's behaviour last night, accusing him of running No10 like a 'medieval court' and issuing a stark warning about the possibility of a party coup.  

Psaki didn't comment on PartyGate but did stress the U.S. and UK have an 'important partnership' and praised the British for their help with the situation in the Ukraine.

She also said she hasn't spoken with President Biden about Johnson's career-threatening scandal. 

'I have not spoken with him specifically about the reports in the UK. But what I can tell you is that he is confident in the important partnership we have with the United Kingdom - the role they play as an important partner and making clear to Russia the unacceptable nature of the buildup of troops and their bellicose rhetoric as it relates to Ukraine. And that certainly has not changed despite cakes in anyone's faces,' Psaki said. 

Today, Mr Johnson warned Putin that he will be hit with crippling economic sanctions 'the moment the first Russian toe cap crosses' into Ukraine as the PM cautioned the Kremlin against a potential invasion.

Speaking during a joint press conference in Kiev alongside the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Johnson said the world must face up to the 'grim reality' of more than 100,000 Russian troops massed at the border. 

The premier told Mr Putin a military incursion into Ukraine would be a 'political disaster', a 'humanitarian disaster' and a 'military disaster'.

Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky said these are 'challenging times for Ukraine and for Europe' as he welcomed the UK's continued support for his nation's sovereignty. 

The PM travelled to Ukraine this morning as he fled the pressure cooker of Westminster following the publication of Sue Gray's 'update' on the Partygate scandal.   

Still reeling from news that police are investigating four allegedly lockdown-busting bashes he attended, Mr Johnson held talks with Mr Zelensky against the backdrop of Moscow's menacing military mobilisation. 

The diplomatic mission got off to a rocky start after Downing Street cancelled a planned call between Mr Johnson and Mr Putin last night because the PM was busy fielding furious questions from MPs. The call is now expected to take place tomorrow.  

Vladimir Putin tonight said the U.S. and NATO have 'ignored' the Kremlin's concerns in recent correspondence as the Russian president made his first direct comments on the Ukraine crisis since December.  

Mr Putin argued that it's possible to negotiate an end to the standoff if interests of all parties, including Russia's security concerns, are taken into account. 

Mr Johnson said this evening in Kiev: 'We have to face a grim reality which is that as we stand here today more than 100,000 Russian troops are gathering on your border in perhaps the biggest demonstration of hostility towards Ukraine in our lifetimes.

'And the potential deployment dwarfs the 30,000 troops that Russia sent to invade Crimea in 2014, since that time of course as everybody knows 13,000 Ukrainians have been killed, and Ukraine has been plunged into nearly a decade of war.

'It goes without saying that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a political disaster, a humanitarian disaster, in my view it would also be for Russia, for the world, a military disaster as well.'

He added: 'Alongside other countries we are also preparing a package of sanctions and other measures to be enacted the moment the first Russian toe cap crosses further into Ukrainian territory.'

A joint statement from Mr Johnson and Mr Zelensky issued after their talks set out how the UK will stand 'shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression'. 

The statement, released by the offices of the Prime Minister and the President, said: 'The Prime Minister emphasised the United Kingdom's unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

'The United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, which threatens regional peace and security and undermines the global order. The two leaders emphasised that it is the right of every Ukrainian to determine their own future.'  

As the domestic scandal rages while Mr Johnson turns his focus abroad: 

Mr Johnson told MPs 42 times during his Commons statement last night that they need to wait for the outcome of the police inquiry;   No10 has refused to commit to making public if Mr Johnson is fined for breaching lockdown laws, with Scotland Yard saying names of those given fixed penalty notices will not be relased;  Deputy PM Dominic Raab insisted Mr Johnson is 'getting on with the job' but dodged giving a full-hearted defence of his swipe at Keir Starmer for failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile. 'I can't substantiate that claim,' Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today programme;  Mr Johnson has pledged to take regular 'strategic advice' from election guru Lynton Crosby as he tried to appease angry MPs;  The premier attacked former No10 chief Dominic Cummings comparing him to Shakespearian villain Iago while he is good-natured Othello; A snap poll has found two-third of the public do not accept Mr Johnson's grudging apology over Partygate.  

Deputy PM Dominic Raab tried to shrug off the delay to the call with Mr Putin this morning, saying there are 'always scheduling issues between any two heads of government' and claiming Mr Johnson has been 'leading the transatlantic response' to the crisis. 

Mr Raab said: 'Any prime minister, any president – it happens all the time – their diaries and their call sheets dart around the place because they are balancing things.'

He told Sky News: 'This Prime Minister is the one who has been leading the transatlantic response, with the United States, with European allies, with the most robust approach on sanctions, providing support.

Mr Johnson travelled to Ukraine on a chartered plane from Stansted with staff and a small pool of journalists. Downing Street has said his call with Mr Putin is now expected to be tomorrow.

The visit to Ukraine comes after a Russian warplane breached the airspace of Estonia - where hundreds of British troops are based - in a suspected move to test NATO defences this weekend.

Estonian authorities yesterday handed a protest note to Russian diplomats in Tallinn after a Russian Su-27 fighter jet violated the NATO state's airspace near the island of Vaindloo in the Gulf of Finland. 

The warplane did not post a flight plan and its transponder was switched off as encroached on Estonian territory - a move described by Tallinn 'a very unfortunate and serious incident'.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia's top security demands but added that Moscow remains open to more talks with the West on easing soaring tensions over Ukraine.

Putin argued that it's possible to negotiate an end to the standoff if interests of all parties, including Russia's security concerns, are taken into account.

'I hope that we will eventually find a solution, although we realize that it's not going to be easy,' Putin said amid a continuing buildup of an estimated 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine that fueled Western fear of an invasion.

Russia has denied having an intention to attack its neighbor, but talks between Russia and the West have so far failed to yield any progress.

Washington and its allies have rejected Moscow's demand for a halt to NATO's expansion to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations, a freeze on the deployment of weapons there and a rollback of alliance forces from Eastern Europe, describing them as nonstarters. They emphasized that Ukraine, like any other nation, has the right to choose alliances.

The Russian leader countered that argument by noting that the Western allies' refusal to meet Russia's demands violates their obligations on integrity of security for all nations. He warned that Ukraine's accession to NATO could lead to a situation where Ukrainian authorities launch a military action to reclaim control over Crimea or areas controlled by Russia-backed separatists in the country's east.

'Imagine that Ukraine becomes a NATO member and launches those military operations,' Putin said. 'Should we fight NATO then? Has anyone thought about it?'

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 following the ouster of the country's Moscow-friendly president and later threw its weight behind rebels in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland, triggering a conflict that has killed over 14,000.

Speaking after talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, who forged close ties with Moscow even though his country is a member of NATO, Putin noted that it's still possible to negotiate a settlement that would take every party's concerns into account.

'We need to find a way to ensure interests and security of all parties, including Ukraine, European nations and Russia,' Putin said, emphasizing that the West needs to treat Russian proposals seriously to make progress.

The Russian leader argued that NATO's open-door policy doesn't oblige the alliance to offer membership to Ukraine, suggesting that the alliance could tell Ukraine that it can't join 'due to earlier international obligations.'

He said that French President Emmanuel Macron may soon visit Moscow as part of renewed diplomatic efforts following their call on Monday.

Russia is conducting military exercises on a scale 'never seen before' on the Ukrainian border, the head of the UK's armed forces has warned, in 'a pattern of coercion and intimidation' against the West.

Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin gave the assessment to a Cabinet meeting before Mr Johnson departed for Ukraine.

Sir Tony said 'a significant proportion of Russia's land combat power was now gathered on the western border, coupled with deterrence operations such as military exercises on a scale never seen before'.

No 10 said he warned this 'fitted into a pattern of coercion and intimidation that sought to undermine the values and principles of the West'.

Mr Johnson told ministers the situation was 'deeply concerning and that there were no indications of Russia de-escalating with more than 100,000 troops currently amassed on Ukraine's border'. 

But Russia's state-run Rossiya 1 channel claimed Johnson's 'anti-Russian hysteria' was 'a way to divert attention from domestic problems' as he sought to 'stifle' the scandal over lockdown-breaking parties.

'Only anti-Russian sanctions can distract from Johnson's protracted Partygate,' the channel concluded.

In a report from London, Gazprom Media-owned NTV channel said: 'If it were in the power of Boris Johnson, [Sue Gray's report] would have disappeared into the bowels of the Victorian sewers of the city of London.

'But this did not happen. The report was delivered to the prime minister at Number 10 - the very residence where the parties took place. 

'Boris Johnson is today the most disliked, disrespected and ridiculed character in Britain.

'Even schoolchildren are laughing at him.

'[Dominic Cummings] says Johnson is completely under the control and heel of his young wife, but at the same time has the ambitions of a Roman emperor.' 

The channel's London correspondent Liza Gerson continued: 'In order to preserve himself, to preserve his political career, Boris Johnson is trying to present himself as a kind of saviour of the whole country.

'Not just the country but the whole world.

'He is trying to talk about more global issues, but he is being asked extremely shameful and petty questions.' 

Boris Johnson and his wife

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