Boris Johnson, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, said that Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, had “threatened him with a missile attack in an unprecedented phone call” before Russia’s incursion in Ukraine.
The exchange’s specifics have been made public in next Monday’s airing of the BBC programme “Putin Vs. the West.” In the documentary, Putin’s contacts with international leaders were analysed. Johnson said that the statement was made after he declared that the conflict would be an “absolute catastrophe” during a “very long” call in February 2022, according to the BBC programme.
According to the documentary, “He threatened me at one point, and he said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute’ or something like that,” Johnson quoted Putin as saying.
“But 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,” he added.
In an effort to deter Russian military action, Boris Johnson informed Putin that Ukraine will not join NATO “for the foreseeable future.”
UK Defence Secretary ben Wallace’s Visit to Moscow on February 11, 2022, to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
Wallace left Moscow with guarantees that Russia wouldn’t strike Ukraine, according to the documentary. Both parties understood it was a falsehood, though. Boris Johnson, a former UK prime minister, famously declared sanctions on Russia. Johnson provided Ukraine with both military and humanitarian aid after Moscow started its invasion on February 24 of last year. Additionally, he went to Kyiv to demonstrate his support for Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia.