Metro

Putin threatened to blow me up with missile – Ex- UK Prime Minister, Johnson

President Vladimir Putin threatened to personally target Boris Johnson with a missile attack just before ordering Russian forces into Ukraine, the former UK prime minister has claimed.

The apparent threat came in a phone call just ahead of the invasion on February 24, according to a new BBC documentary to be broadcast on Monday.

Johnson and other Western leaders had been hurrying to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine and try to deter a Russian attack.

“He sort of threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute’, or something like that,” Johnson quoted Putin as saying.

Johnson emerged as one of the most impassioned Western backers of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

But prior to the invasion, he says he was at pains to tell Putin that there was no imminent prospect of Ukraine joining NATO while warning him that any invasion would mean “more NATO, not less NATO” on Russia’s borders.

“He said, ‘Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join NATO any time soon.

“‘What is any time soon?’ And I said, ‘well it’s not going to join NATO for the foreseeable future. You know that perfectly well.”

On the missile threat, Johnson added: “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.”

 

admin

Recent Posts

From ‘Books to Shops’: Oyo APC Slams Makinde Over ‘Shameful’ Library Conversion

  The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has criticized the alleged forceful conversion…

2 hours ago

NASS Pensioners: How Akpabio, Abbas Should Not Treat The Elderly

On Monday and Tuesday last week, workers and political operatives within the precincts of the…

3 hours ago

NAF Pharmacist Shines at 97th PSN Conference, Bags Three Prestigious Awards

  Air Commodore David Olumuyiwa Babalola, a consultant clinical pharmacist in the Nigerian Air Force…

13 hours ago

The Fuji Music House Of Commotion

Like every lover of Yoruba traditional music, language and culture, I have of recent been…

14 hours ago

NGO Launches Ibadan Food Bank Project to Combat Hunger Among Vulnerable Nigerians

  The Founder and Executive Director of the Temmy Helping Hands and Youth Empowerment Foundation,…

1 day ago

Two-Thirds of Nigerians Can’t Afford Healthy Meals — NBS

  A recent survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has highlighted the severe…

2 days ago