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Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson is a British politician - born on June 19, 1964 in New York. His paternal great-grandfather is said to be Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin - Russian politician.
Born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. Prez told him: "I don't want to hurt you, but with a missile, it will only take a minute," in a conversation before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, DPA reported.
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Johnson said the "extraordinary" conversation took place in February after he visited Kyiv in a last-ditch effort to show Western support for Ukraine amid growing fears of a Russian attack.
Johnson, who has become a vocal supporter of Volodymyr Zelenskiy's administration in the months since the Russian invasion, made the claim in a new three-part BBC series looking at how the West fought Putin in the years leading up to the war in Ukraine.
The former British prime minister, who was forced out of 10 Downing Street in September, visited Kyiv in early February to warn Russia that the invasion would prove disastrous.
Johnson recalled warning Putin that there would be tougher Western sanctions if he ordered an invasion of Ukraine.
He added that he told the Russian leader that the escalation would only lead to an increase in Western support for Ukraine, meaning "more NATO, not less NATO" on Russia's borders.
Boris Johnson earned nearly £1 million outside of Parliament in just one month
"He said, 'Boris, you're saying that Ukraine is not going to join NATO anytime soon.
[...] What's soon?" and I replied, "Well she's not joining NATO in the foreseeable future.
You know that very well," Johnson said of the conversation with Putin.
"At one point he threatened me and said, 'Boris, I don't want to hurt you, but with a rocket it will only take a minute' or something like that," Johnson said.
"I think from the very calm tone he adopted, it looked like he was just toying with my attempts to get him to negotiate."
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also spoke on "Putin vs. the West" this evening about his trip to Moscow in February, when he tried to make a breakthrough and prevent war.
He recalls speaking with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as well as Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
"And I remember saying to Minister Shoigu, 'they're going to fight,' and he said, 'My mother is Ukrainian, they're not going to fight!'" He also said he had no intention of invading, Wallace said.
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Vladimir Putin
Boris Johnson
death threat