Boris Johnson emerged as one of the crucial impassioned Western backers of Ukraine President

London:

President Vladimir Putin threatened to personally goal Boris Johnson with a missile assault simply earlier than ordering Russian forces into Ukraine, the previous UK prime minister has claimed.

The obvious risk got here in a cellphone name simply forward of the invasion on February 24, based on a brand new BBC documentary to be broadcast on Monday.

Johnson and different Western leaders had been hurrying to Kyiv to indicate assist for Ukraine and attempt to deter a Russian assault.

“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,” Johnson quoted Putin as saying.

Johnson emerged as one of the crucial impassioned Western backers of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

But previous to the invasion, he says he was at pains to inform Putin that there was no imminent prospect of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, whereas warning him that any invasion would imply “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 quickly?’ And I mentioned, ‘properly it isn’t going to hitch NATO for the foreseeable future. You know that completely properly’.”

On the missile threat, Johnson added: “I believe from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the type of air of detachment that he appeared to have, he was simply taking part in together with my makes an attempt to get him to barter.” 

The BBC documentary charts the growing divide between the Russian leader and the West in the years before the invasion of Ukraine.

It also features Zelensky reflecting on his thwarted ambitions to join NATO prior to Russia’s attack.

“If you recognize that tomorrow Russia will occupy Ukraine, why do not you give me one thing right this moment I can cease it with?” he says.

“Or if you cannot give it to me, then cease it your self.”

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