Even before war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, the West kept its eye on Vladimir Putin. Indeed, Putin has the world on edge about his health and his actions. In a documentary on the BBC, world leaders talk about their experiences with the Russian President. One has claimed he was threatened.
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Boris Johnson was threatened by Vladimir Putin
One of the world leaders who was interviewed for the documentary, which will air today, January 30, 2023, on BBC Two at 9 pm GMT, was former British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
In his interview, Johnson says he had talked with Putin before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, explaining that war would be an ‘utter catastrophe.’ He then says that the Russian President threatened him with a missile and that it 'would only take a minute':
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.
Despite the threat, Johnson also adds that Putin seemed to have a ‘relaxed tone’ when he said it:
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.
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The Kremlin has denied the threat
The Kremlin has called Johnson a ‘liar’ after his claim that Putin threatened him, as reported by Sky News. Dimitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters that Johnson's claim was ‘more precisely, a lie.’
Moreover, the Kremlin spokesperson explains that Johnson simply didn’t ‘understand’ what Putin was trying to say to him:
Either a deliberate falsehood, in which case you need to ask Mr Johnson why he lied, or it was not a deliberate lie. That is, he didn't understand what President Putin was saying to him
Peskov told the BBC that ‘there were no threats to use missiles.’
Sources used:
BBC: ‘Ukraine: Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike’
Sky News: ‘Kremlin dismisses Boris Johnson's claim Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him with missile in call ahead of Russian invasion of Ukraine’
