By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 2 hours ago, updated 1 hour ago
Boris Johnson, October 22, 2022. HENRY NICHOLLS/ Portal
In a documentary aired on BBC Two, the former British Prime Minister reflects on his conversation with the Russian President in February 2022, just days before the invasion of Ukraine.
Boris Johnson tells a BBC documentary that before invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin “kind of threatened” him, saying, “One missile would last a minute.” In this three-part documentary, the first episode of which will air on BBC Two on Monday evening, January 30, the former British Prime Minister recounts his “very long” and “extraordinary” conversation with the Russian President following his visit to Kyiv early last February .
At the time, despite the massive influx of Russian soldiers into the border regions, Vladimir Putin continued to claim that he had no intention of invading his Ukrainian neighbor. Boris Johnson says he warned the Russian president about the harsh sanctions Westerners would impose if he went down that route. “He said: ‘Boris, you say Ukraine will not join NATO any time soon. (…) What do you mean by “not so soon”?” says Boris Johnson.
“Boris, I don’t want to hurt you”
“Well, they won’t be joining NATO anytime soon, you know that for a fact,” continues the former British leader, an early supporter of the Ukrainians. At one point he kind of threatened me and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a rocket it would take a minute’ or something like that.”
According to the former British leader, who left Downing Street in early September after a spate of scandals, “he toyed with (his) attempt to get him to negotiate “according to his very relaxed tone, the detachment he seemed to have.
In the documentary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recounts how he became angry at the attitude of Westerners at the time: “If you know that Russia will invade Ukraine tomorrow, why is what you don’t give me today enough to stop it?” to stop it? If you can’t do it, stop doing it yourself.”
TO HAVEIN ADDITION – War in Ukraine: Putin says he has “no doubts” that Russia will win