Boris Johnson says 'toxic masculinity' led to war in Ukraine, suggests that a woman wouldn't have started the war

A female Russian president would never have invaded Ukraine, so says British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

According to Business Insider, Johnson sat down with German news outlet ZDF shortly following the G7 summit and blamed much of Vladimir Putin's behavior, especially the war in Ukraine, on his male identity.

"If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn't, if he were, I really don't think he would have embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has," Johnson said, per ZDF.

"If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it's what he's doing in Ukraine," Johnson continued.

However, despite his criticisms of Putin, Johnson does not foresee the war in Ukraine coming to a conclusion any time soon, telling ZDF that there is "no possible deal" between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at present.

The gendered nature of Johnson's comments likely stems from various gender equality conversations he and other leaders had throughout the three-day summit. According to Kevin Liptak of CNN, "Gender equality was one of the themes of this year's G7, where leaders dedicated an entire working session to the subject."

Though there was no formal G7 discussion about the Dobbs decision from the United States Supreme Court, which effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, the topic did simmer under the surface.

"We have discussed gender equality and indeed, there were many voices, very sad and very worried about the setback," European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

President Biden has expressed similar frustrations about the Dobbs decision.

Biden and Johnson joined Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi for the summit. Though many of their conversations were of a serious nature, Johnson and others still found a way to poke fun at Putin, who was not in attendance.

When Johnson joked with photographers about whether the group should keep their jackets on or take them off, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau replied, “Let’s wait for the picture.”

“We all have to show we’re tougher than Putin,” Johnson then said in jest, referring to the famous photograph taken of Putin while he was riding horseback shirtless in 2009.

“We’re going to get the bare-chested horseback-riding display,” Trudeau agreed.

“Oh, yes! Horseback riding is the best,” von der Leyen added.

“We got to show them our pecs,” Johnson said to close out the joke.

Russia was a member of the summit from 1997 to 2014, when it was called the G8 or Group of Eight Summit.