In the three-part documentary, which will air its first episode on Monday night on the BBC, the former British head of government recounts his “very long” and “extraordinary” telephone conversation with the Russian president after his visit to Kiev at the beginning of February last year.
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At the time, Putin continued to say that he had no intention of invading neighboring Ukraine, despite the massive influx of Russian troops in the border regions.
Boris Johnson says he warned the Russian president about the strong sanctions that the West would adopt if he did so.
Then, the former British Prime Minister claims that Putin told him: “Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join NATO anytime soon (…) What do you mean by 'any time soon'?”
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“That you will not join NATO in the near future, you know that very well,” replied Johnson, who has supported the Ukrainians since the beginning of the conflict.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but…”
“At one point he kind of threatened me and said, 'Boris, I don't want to do you any harm, but with a missile it would take a minute' or something like that,” Boris Johnson added.
“I think that taking into account the relaxed tone he reigned, the distance he seemed to have, he did not take into account my attempts to get him to negotiate”, adds the former prime minister, who left Downing Street at the beginning of September after a series of scandals.
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In the documentary, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky says he was uncomfortable with the attitude of Westerners at the time.
“If you know that Russia is going to invade Ukraine tomorrow, why don't you offer me what I need today to stop it? If you can’t, stop it yourselves,” she said.
(with AFP)
