LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has likened negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiating with a crocodile, warning Ukraine that negotiating a peace deal with an unreliable leader would be difficult.

Johnson said that Putin has made it clear that he wants to take more land from Ukraine and that he may launch a new attack on the country’s capital, Kiev.

“How can you bargain with a crocodile when your leg is in its chin, that’s the challenge Ukrainians face,” Johnson told reporters on a two-day visit to India.

“Given the apparent lack of goodwill, it is very difficult to see how Ukrainians can negotiate with Putin right now,” he said.

(Reported by Andrew MacAskill)