Putin threatened to kill me with missile, says Johnson

The former PM and Ukrainian president in Kyiv It would only take a minute,’ Vladimir Putin told Boris Johnson before the invasion Reuters)

- ADAM FORREST

Boris Johnson has claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him in a missile attack, saying "it would only take a minute" in a call ahead of the invasion of Ukraine. The former prime minister said the "extraordinary" conversation took place in February after he had visited Kyiv in a last-ditch

attempt to show Western support for Ukraine amid growing fears of an assault.

Mr Johnson, who would emerge as a staunch backer of Volodymyr Zelensky's government, made the claim in a new three-part series for BBC Two looking at how the West grappled with Mr Putin in the years leading up to the invasion. The former PM, who left No 10 in September after being forced from office, made the visit to Kyiv in early February to warn Russia that an invasion would prove disastrous and lead to tough Western sanctions.

He also said he told the Russian leader that the escalation would only see Western states increase support for Ukraine, meaning "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 perfectively well"," Mr Johnson said of the call with Mr Putin.