Boris Johnson; former British Prime Minister, has opened up about one of his conversations with Vladimir Putin where
the Russian president threatened to kill him with a missile last year for supporting Ukraine.
Johnson revealed this in a three-part documentary with BBC at the weekend, according to The Mirror on Monday.
The ex-UK PM explained further that Putin made the threat in a telephone conversation he described as “extraordinary” following his visit to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine amid growing fears of a Russian invasion.
Johnson said Putin told him on the phone, “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute.”
He also said he told the Russian leader that the escalation would only see Western states increase support for Ukraine, meaning “more NATO, not less NATO” on Russia’s borders.
“He said, ‘Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join NATO any time soon. […] What is any time soon?’ and I said ‘Well it’s not going to join NATO for the foreseeable future. You know that perfectively well,’” Johnson said of the call with Putin.
“He sort of 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.
“I think from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate.”
More military support is going to Ukraine as Germany and the United States, last week, promised to send tanks as the war nearly enters its first year.
