Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile during a phone call before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
According to the former British Conservative leader, Putin told him he did not want to hurt him but that the missile attack would “only take a minute.”
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The threat, according to Johnson in a program to be broadcast tonight by the BBC, was made after the former prime minister warned Putin that the war would be a “total catastrophe”.
Johnson’s account is part of a British public broadcaster documentary assessing Putin’s contacts with world leaders before the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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From the very relaxed tone that (Putin) was taking, the kind of nonchalant air that he seemed to have, he was just playing with my attempts to negotiate.
The former head of the United Kingdom Government also warned Putin, in this long telephone conversation, that the Invasion of Ukraine would trigger Western sanctions and the deployment of forces of the Atlantic Alliance on the borders with Russia.
Johnson also tried to prevent Russian military action by telling Putin that Ukraine would not join NATO.
“He threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute,’ or something like that,” Johnson said.
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“But I think from the very relaxed tone he was taking, the kind of nonchalant air he seemed to have, it just I was playing with my attempts to negotiateJohnson added, calling the call “very familiar” and “extraordinary.”
The BBC documentary, titled “Putin vs. the West”, also says that on February 11, 2022, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace traveled to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and he left Russia with assurances that the invasion of the Ukraine would not take place.
Kremlin denies Boris Johnson accusations
What Mr. Johnson said is a lie
For its part, the Kremlin accused the former British prime minister Boris Johnson of lying after he claimed that Putin threatened him with missiles shortly before launching the offensive in Ukraine.
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“What Mr. Johnson said is a lie. Either it is a deliberate lie, but then for what purpose? Or it is an involuntary lie, in the sense that he did not understand what President Putin was telling him,” the president told the press. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.
“There was no missile threat. Speaking of Russia’s security challenges, President Putin had pointed out that if Ukraine joined NATO and there was the possibility of Alliance missiles or US missiles being deployed on our borders, it would mean that a missile could reach Moscow. in a matter of minutes,” Peskov explained.
“If this passage was misinterpreted, this is a very unfortunate situation“, he continued.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left Downing Street in September last year after a series of scandals.
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*With information from EFE and AFP
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