Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had threatened to strike Britain with a missile before Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
The threat came on a phone call just ahead of the Ukraine invasion on February 24, 2022, according to a BBC documentary to be broadcasted in the coming days.
Johnson has been one of the key supporters of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the fight against Russian aggression. Ever since the beginning of the invasion, Johnson has called on the Western leaders to fully support the Ukrainian army, be it military equipment and ammunition, training, or logistic support.
“Putin 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 said.
Apparently, President Putin was eager to negotiate with his Western counterparts over Ukraine’s immediate interest to join NATO, which did not go in his favor, and led to the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.
Months before the invasion, the relations had soured between Russia and Western allies on Zelenskey’s ambitions to join NATO. President Putin had repeatedly warned that having more NATO member states in the country’s eastern borders would not be acceptable to Russia.
On the contrary, the United States and NATO member states have continuously backed Ukraine in the fight against Russia. With the recent escalation in the ongoing conflict, U.S. and Germany have recently pledged to send sophisticated tanks including (Leopard 2 and Abrams) to strengthen the Ukrainian army on the battleground.
With the status quo on the battleground, there seems to be no end to the prolonged Russian-Ukraine conflict in the near future, as Ukraine receives the required firepower from NATO member states, and Russia looks for every single alternative to continue military supplies to its army in the frontline.
