Russia has denied former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim that President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike in a call ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.
In a new BBC documentary series, Johnson said the “extraordinary” conversation took place in February 2022, days before Russia launched an assault on Kyiv on Feb. 24.
The former prime minister said that he warned Putin that, if he ordered an invasion of Ukraine, there would be tougher sanctions and the West would increase its support for Ukraine, meaning “more NATO, not less NATO” on Russia’s borders.
Recalling the phone conversation, Johnson said Putin asked him: “Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join NATO any time soon. What is any time soon?”…