A Death Threat to Boris Johnson?
Ex-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed that Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him with a missile in a call ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin had reportedly told Johnson, “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute” in an “extraordinary” conversation that took place in February after he had visited Kyiv.” The claim was made by Boris Johnson in a BBC documentary titled ‘Putin vs the West’.The former prime minister also shared other details about Vladimir Putin and what the Russian president calls “special military operation” in Ukraine. Apparently, the threat came in a phone call
- “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute” Putin threatened boris Johnson
- Mr Johnson said the comment was made after he warned the war would be an “utter catastrophe” during a “very long” call in February 2022. These are the claims made in a BBC documentary. It is impossible to know if Mr Putin’s threat was genuine
- Mr Johnson warned Mr Putin that invading Ukraine would lead to Western sanctions and more Nato troops on Russia’s borders. He also tried to deter Russian military action by telling Mr Putin that Ukraine would not join Nato “for the foreseeable future”.
Mr Johnson 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 perfectively well’,” Mr Johnson said of the call with Mr Putin. “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.