BORIS JOHNSON HAS claimed that Vladimir Putin told him “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute”, in a call ahead of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Johnson, who would emerge as a vocal backer of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration in the months after Russia invaded, made the claim in a new three-part series for BBC Two looking at how the West grappled with Putin in the years leading up to the war in Ukraine.
Talking about a phone call between the two leaders ahead of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Johnson said: “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.”
But the Kremlin has disputed the claim, saying there were “no threats with missiles” during the bilateral conversation held in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked about Johnson’s comments today, said that the British politician’s account was untrue, “or, more precisely, it was a lie”.
Peskov said the former Conservative Party leader may have deliberately lied or failed to understand what the Russian leader was telling him.
“There were no threats with missiles,” Peskov said during a conference call with reporters.
“While talking about security challenges to 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 told the documentary producers that the “extraordinary” conversation took place last February after he had visited Kyiv in a last-ditch attempt to show Western support for Ukraine amid growing fears of a Russian assault.
War would break out only days later, with Russia launching its attack on Kyiv on 24 February.
Johnson said Putin had a “very relaxed tone” and an “air of detachment” as he spoke.
“He was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate,” Johnson said.
The former British prime minister, who left Downing Street in September after being forced from office following a series of controversies, made the visit to Kyiv in early February to warn Russia that an invasion would prove disastrous.
Since leaving No 10, he has continued to foster relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visiting Kyiv again earlier this month.
During his contribution to the documentary, Johnson recalled that he warned Putin there would be tougher Western sanctions if he ordered an invasion of Ukraine.
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 perfectly well,’” Johnson said of the call with Putin.
It was after those remarks that Putin mentioned the missile attack, according to Johnson.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also spoke to the Putin Vs The West programme, set to air this evening, about his journey to Moscow in February as he sought to reach a breakthrough and see off war.
The programme also hears from Zelenskyy about his efforts to win over Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, speaking today, said Britain should be “really proud” of the action it has taken in standing up to Russian aggression.
Sunak highlighted how the UK had recently provided heavy tanks – Challenger 2s – to Kyiv to help with its defence.
“We were the first major country to do that. What that has led to is other countries, like America and like Germany, saying they will do the same thing,” he said during a Q&A in county Durham.
“That is really important because it will provide the support that Ukraine needs to, hopefully, make more progress against Russia over the early part of this year.”
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