Boris Johnson: "Putin threatened to kill me with a missile"!

 Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tells in a documentary that will be broadcast by the BBC that Russian President Vladimir Putin “threatened him in some way” before invading Ukraine, telling him, “With a missile, it will take one minute.”

In the three-part documentary, which BBC broadcasts its first episode this evening, Johnson recounts his "very long" and "extraordinary" call with the Russian President after his visit to Kyiv at the beginning of last February.

At the time, Putin continued to stress that he had no intention of invading his neighbor, despite the massive influx of Russian soldiers into the border regions.

Johnson says he warned Putin of harsh punishments that Westerners might take if he went down this road.

"He (Putin) said: 'Boris, you say that Ukraine will not join NATO anytime soon, what do you mean by 'any time soon'?" Johnson told AFP.

The former British Prime Minister replied, “Well, you will not be joining NATO in the near future.

You know that very well.'

Johnson continued, "At one point, he kind of threatened me and said, 'Boris, I don't want to hurt you, but with a missile, it'll take a minute) or something like that.'"

The documentary chronicles the growing divide between the Russian leader and the West in the years leading up to the invasion of Ukraine.

Also in this documentary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells how he was angry at the position of Westerners at the time, and says, “If you know that Russia will invade Ukraine tomorrow, why don't you give me something I can stop it with today?

Or if you can't give it to me, then stop it yourselves.'

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news