Chris Radburn/AFP
Johnson recalls Putin threatening him to send ‘a missile’ to Britain ahead of the invasion of Ukraine (Photo: Boris Johnson when he was still UK prime minister, September 1, 2022)
International – This is a threat that would make more than one person shudder. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says in BBC documentary that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him “somewhat threatened” Before the invasion of Ukraine by throwing: “A missile will take a minute”,
In this three-part documentary, the first episode of which was broadcast on BBC Two on Monday evening, the former head of the British government talks about his ” very long “ And ” outstanding “ Met the Russian President after his visit to Kyiv in early February.
At the time, Vladimir Putin continued to say that he had no intention of invading his Ukrainian neighbor, despite the massive influx of Russian troops into the border areas.
Boris Johnson, he says, warned the Russian president of the harsh sanctions Westerners would face if he followed this path. “He said, ‘Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join NATO soon. (…) What do you mean by ‘never soon’?” ,Boris Johnson says. “Well, she is not going to join NATO in the near future, you know that very well”The former British leader continues his early support of the Ukrainians.
“Boris, I don’t mean to hurt you, but with a missile it will take a minute”
“At one point he threatened me and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with the missile it will take a minute’ or something.”Boris Johnson continues.
“I think the detachment he had, from the very quiet tone he took, was playing with my attempts to hold a conversation”Adds the former British leader, who left Downing Street in early September following a succession of scandals.
“What Mr. Johnson said is a lie. It is either a deliberate lie, but then for what purpose? Either it’s an unintentional lie, because he didn’t understand what President Putin was telling him.This Monday, January 30, Moscow, reacted through the voice of the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who assured that there was no “No Missile Threat”,
In the documentary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described how he was angered by the attitude of Westerners at the time: “If you know that tomorrow Russia is going to invade Ukraine, why don’t you give me something today to stop it? If you can’t then stop yourself. »
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