Boris Johnson has claimed that Vladimir Putin threatened to murder him in a rocket attack last year, the Mirror reports. The fomer UK PM alleges in a new three-part BBC documentary that the Russian President warned him: “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute.”
Mr Johnson claims the "extraordinary" conversation happened last February over the phone, following his visit to Kyiv in a final attempt to show support for Ukraine amid growing fears of a Russian attack. In the programme, which is about the relationship between Putin and the West, he revealed the conversation came about after he told Putin that there would be tougher penalties if the Russian leader ordered an invasion of Ukraine.
He also informed him that the escalation would only result in Western states increasing their support for Ukraine, meaning "more Nato, not less Nato" on Russia's borders. Mr Johnson said Putin replied with: "Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join Nato any time soon. [...] What is any time soon?" and the then-Prime Minister replied: "Well it's not going to join Nato for the foreseeable future. You know that perfectly well".
