Vladimir Putin said Western leaders would look “disgusting” if they tried to emulate his bare-torso appearances. But Boris Johnson has told Putin that allies are “appalled and repelled” by his behaviour after the Russian President's comments.
The comments from the Russian president came after some G7 leaders joked together about the exploits of Mr Putin, who is known for liking to publicise his athletic prowess. Mr Johnson appeared to chuckle slightly when Mr Putin’s comments were relayed to him, but responded to the barb by pointing instead to the “barbaric” actions Mr Putin had inflicted on Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference at the Nato summit in Madrid, the prime minister said: “He should think about the consequences of his barbaric actions, the way his invasion has actually brought the West together, Nato, G7, EU, look at the way people have come together. If he wanted less Nato on his borders by getting into Ukraine, which by the way it was never remotely likely that Ukraine was going to join Nato any time in the foreseeable future, everybody knew that, it was completely mythical.
