With a comparison between the defense of the Ukrainians against the Russian attack and the British vote for Brexit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also provoked criticism and incomprehension in his own political camp.

Speaking at a Tory party conference in Blackpool, northern England, Johnson said on Saturday that "it is the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom."

He referred to the "recent famous example" of the British referendum on their country's exit from the European Union, which was held in June 2016 and narrowly ended in favor of Brexit.

Johnson sparked outrage at home and abroad with the comparison.

"Boris" Your words offend Ukrainians, British and common sense," former EU Council President Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter.

“If I were Ukrainian, I would feel offended”

Former EU Parliament Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt dismissed Johnson's settlement as "crazy".

"Ukrainians want more freedom and want to join the EU," emphasized the liberal Belgian MEP.

French Foreign Ministry Director-General for Foreign Affairs and Security Philippe Errera tweeted about Johnson's comparison: "If I were Ukrainian, I would be offended.

If I were British I would be ashamed.

As a French diplomat, I do not comment on this on Twitter (...)".

British MP Tobias Ellwood of Johnson's Conservative Party tweeted: "Compareing the Ukrainian people's fight against Putin's tyranny to the British people voting for Brexit damages the political leadership we are beginning to demonstrate." To defeat President Vladimir Putin, "we need international leadership and unity," stressed Ellwood, who chairs the UK Parliament's Defense Committee.

British Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak cautiously distanced himself from Johnson's settlement.

The Ukraine war and the fight for Brexit are not comparable, he told SkyNews.

"Obviously they're not directly analogue, and I don't think the Prime Minister said they were directly analogue either."

In his speech, Johnson mentioned the need for self-determination as something that the Ukrainians and the British have in common.

"When the British voted in such large numbers for Brexit, I don't think they did so because they are hostile to foreigners," said the Prime Minister.

"It was because they wanted to be free to do things differently and for this country to run itself."