Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him with a missile attack in the days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Johnson made the claim in a documentary for the BBC, saying Putin “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,'” the Russian president was reported as saying.
A Kremlin spokesman denied Johnson’s claim, telling reporters that Putin never threatened the British leader with a missile attack, according to Time.
“There were no missile threats,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “While speaking about the security challenges for Russia, President Putin said that if Ukraine joins NATO, the potential deployment of US or other NATO missiles near our borders would mean that any such missile could reach Moscow. in minutes”.
Johnson detailed a phone call with Putin in the days before the Russian strongman’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Johnson said he felt Putin was simply “playing along” with him in negotiations over Russian aggression.
“Because of the very relaxed tone he was taking, the kind of nonchalant air he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate,” Johnson said on the BBC series “Putin vs the West.” ”
Johnson also said Putin asked him if Ukraine would join NATO, which the British Conservative leader said would not happen “in the foreseeable future.”
Johnson resigned as British prime minister in September following a series of scandals, but in office he established a close relationship between Britain and Ukraine.
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