The former United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson reportedly claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin threatening him with a missile attack. According to Johnson Putin has threatened to personally target him with a missile attack just before Russian forces attacking Ukraine.
According to BBC documentary, to be broadcast on Monday, the apparent threat came in a phone call on February 24, reported AFP.
"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," Johnson quoted Putin as saying.
The threat came when Johnson and other Western leaders had been hurrying to Kyiv to offer their support for Ukraine. Johnson is one of the most ardent backers of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Johnson also said that he wanted to tell Putin that there was no imminent prospect of Ukraine joining NATO. He also wanted to warn him that with invasion would mean "more NATO, not less NATO" on Russia's borders.
“Boris you say that Ukraine is not going to join NATO any time soon”, Johnson said again quoting Putin.
"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 also added that "I think from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate," reported AFP.
The BBC documentary episode features the growing divide between the Russian leader and the West in the years before the invasion of Ukraine. It also features Zelensky's ambitions to join NATO prior to Russia's attack.
"If you know that tomorrow Russia will occupy Ukraine, why don't you give me something today I can stop it with? Or if you can't give it to me, then stop it yourself," he says.
