Putin threatened Johnson with missile attack before Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the UK, has said Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, threatened him with a missile strike in a phone call in the run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Source: BBC, citing Johnson's words in the Putin Vs the West documentary, which will be broadcasted on BBC 2 on the evening of 30 January 

Quote from Johnson: He [Putin – ed.] threatened me at one point, and he said, 'Boris, I don't want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute' or something like that."

Details: The BBC reported that the call was made in February 2022, and Putin's comments came after Johnson warned that a war in Ukraine would have catastrophic consequences.

"But I think from the very relaxed tone that he [Putin – ed.] was taking, the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate," Boris Johnson said.

During the call, Johnson also tried to convey to Putin that Ukraine would not join NATO "for the foreseeable future" and warned him that invading Ukraine would lead to Western sanctions and more NATO troops on Russia's borders.

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