Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike in 'extraordinary' phone call

Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed in a BBC documentary that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year. The incident, as per the UK PM, happened during an "extraordinary" phone call with the Kremlin. Johnson said Putin told him it "would only take a minute".

According to the former UK PM, Putin's comment came after the former warned that the war would be an "utter catastrophe" during the call, reported BBC. The concerned documentary examines Putin's interactions with world leaders. Johnson warned Putin that invading Ukraine would lead to Western sanctions and more NATO troops on Russia's borders.

Johnson also tried to deter Russian military action by telling Purin that Ukraine would not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) "for the foreseeable future". President Putin had been "very familiar" during the "most extraordinary call", Johnson said. 

It is impossible to know if Putin's threat was genuine. But Johnson said, "He 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. Jolly." 

"But I think from the very relaxed tone that he 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."

Nine days later UK Defence Secy Wallace visits Russia

Nine days later, on February 11, 2022, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace flew to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu. Given previous Russian attacks on the UK - most recently in Salisbury in 2018 - any threat from the Russian leader, however lightly delivered, is probably one that the UK administration would have had no choice but to take seriously.

The documentary labelled 'Putin vs the West', said that Wallace had departed from Moscow with reassurance from the Kremlin that Russia would not invade Ukraine, but both sides knew that it was a lie. Wallace described it as a "demonstration of bullying or strength, which is: I'm going to lie to you, you know I'm lying and I know you know I'm lying and I'm still going to lie to you."

"I think it was about saying 'I'm powerful'," Wallace said. He stated the 'fairly chilling, but direct lie' had confirmed his belief that Russia would invade, reported BBC. As he left the meeting, he revealed that General Valery Gerasimov - Russia's chief of general staff - told him "never again will we be humiliated".