Boris Johnson says Vladimir Putin threatened him with a rocket attack an “extraordinary” phone call. in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago on February 24th.
The then prime minister said that Putin told him it would be “just a minute”.
Johnson said the comment was made after warning him the war would have been an “absolute catastrophe”.
The claim is made in a BBC documentary about Putin’s interactions with world leaders over the years. The Kremlin spokesman said it was a “lie”.
Johnson warned Putin to invade Ukraine it would lead to Western sanctions and more NATO troops on the borders of Russia.
He also tried to discourage Russian military action by telling Putin Ukraine would not join NATO “in the next future”.
But Johnson said: ‘At one point he threatened me and said: ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute’ or something similar.
“But I think because of the very relaxed tone he was taking, the kind of nonchalant air he seemed to have, he was just humoring my attempts to negotiate.”
President Putin had been “very familiar” during the “most extraordinary call,” Johnson said.
No reference to the exchange appeared in media reports of the call being made from Downing Street or the Kremlin.
Boris is lying
The Kremlin has accused the former British prime minister of lying.
“Is what Mr. Johnson said a lie. Or is it a deliberate lie, but then for what purpose? Or is it an unintentional lie in the sense that he did not understand what President Putin was saying to him”Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters.
“There was no missile threat. Speaking about Russia’s security challenges, President Putin stressed that if Ukraine joins NATO and there is a possibility that Alliance missiles or US missiles would be deployed to our borders, would mean that a missile could reach Moscow in minutesPeskov explained.
“If this passage has been misunderstood, it is a very unfortunate situation“, he continued.
The former British Prime Minister, who left Downing Street in September last year after a series of scandals.
It’s impossible to know whether Putin’s threat was genuine.
However, given previous Russian attacks on the UK, the most recent in Salisbury in 2018any threat from the Russian leader, however slight, chances are Johnson would have had no choice but to do so take it seriously.
Clarín newsroom with information from BCC News and AFP
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.