Kremlin denies Vladimir Putin’s threats against Boris Johnson
The Kremlin accuses Boris Johnson of lying when he claims, in a BBC documentary in three parts, which the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has ” threatens “ mentioning a shot from “missile”shortly before the offensive in Ukraine. “What Mr. Johnson said was a lie. It’s either a deliberate lie, but then for what purpose? Either it is an unintentional lie, insofar as he did not understand what President Putin was telling him”Kremlin spokesman told reporters, Dmitry Peskov. “There was no missile threat. Speaking of the challenges for Russia’s security, President Putin had noted that, in the event of Ukraine’s entry into NATO – and the possibility of the deployment of Alliance missiles or American missiles on our borders – that would mean that a missile could reach Moscow in a matter of minutes”explained Mr. Peskov. “If this passage has been misinterpreted, then it is a very embarrassing situation”he continued.
In this documentary triptych, the first episode of which is broadcast Monday evening on BBC 2, the former head of the British government recounts his ” very long “ and ” extraordinary “ call with the Russian president after his visit to kyiv in early February. At that time, Vladimir Putin continued to maintain that he had no intention of invading his Ukrainian neighbor, despite the massive influx of Russian soldiers into the border regions.
Boris Johnson, he says that he had warned the Russian president of the harsh sanctions that Westerners would take if he embarked on this path. “He said, ‘Boris, you say Ukraine is not going to join NATO anytime soon. (…) What do you mean by not soon?” »says Boris Johnson. “Well, she’s not going to join NATO in the near future, you know that perfectly well”continues the former British leader, early support of the Ukrainians. “At one point he kind of threatened me and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but, with a missile, it would take a minute’ or something.”continues Boris Johnson. “I think that, from the very relaxed tone he took, the detachment he seemed to have, he was playing with my attempts to get him to negotiate”adds the former British leader, who left Downing Street in early September after a succession of scandals.
In the documentary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recounts how he came to be enraged at the attitude of Westerners at the time: “If you know that tomorrow Russia is going to invade Ukraine, why don’t you give me something to stop it today? If you can’t, then stop it yourself. »