London: President Vladimir Putin threatened to in my view goal Boris Johnson with a missile assault simply earlier than ordering Russian forces into Ukraine, the previous UK top minister has claimed.
The obvious chance got here in a telecellsmartphone name simply in advance of the invasion on February 24, consistent with a brand new BBC documentary to be broadcast on Monday.
Johnson and different Western leaders have been hurrying to Kyiv to reveal aid for Ukraine and try and deter a Russian assault.
“He kind of threatened me at one factor and said, ‘Boris, I do not need to harm you, however with a missile, it might most effective take a minute’, or some thing like that,” Johnson quoted Putin as saying.
Johnson emerged as one of the maximum impassioned Western backers of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But previous to the invasion, he says he became at pains to inform Putin that there has been no drawing close prospect of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, whilst caution him that any invasion could mean “greater NATO, now no longer much less NATO” on Russia’s borders.
“He said, ‘Boris, you are saying that Ukraine isn’t going to enroll in NATO any time soon.
“‘What is any time soon?’ And I said, ‘nicely it is now no longer going to enroll in NATO for the foreseeable future. You recognize that completely nicely’.”
On the missile chance, Johnson added: “I assume from the very comfortable tone that he became taking, the kind of air of detachment that he regarded to have, he became simply gambling at the side of my tries to get him to negotiate.”
The BBC documentary charts the developing divide among the Russian chief and the West withinside the years earlier than the invasion of Ukraine.
It additionally functions Zelensky reflecting on his thwarted goals to enroll in NATO previous to Russia’s assault.
“If you understand that the next day Russia will occupy Ukraine, why do not you supply me some thing these days I can forestall it with?” he says.
“Or in case you can not supply it to me, then forestall it yourself.”