Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute”, before the invasion of Ukraine.
The “extraordinary” conversation took place in February, Mr Johnson said, after he visited Kyiv in a last-ditch attempt to show western support for Ukraine amid growing fears of a Russian assault.
He made the claim in a new three-part series for BBC2 looking at how the West dealt with Mr Putin in the years leading to the war in Ukraine.
Mr Johnson, a vocal backer of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited Kyiv in early February to warn Russia that an invasion would prove disastrous.
He left Downing Street in September after being forced from office.
Mr Johnson recalled that he warned Mr Putin there would be tougher western sanctions if he ordered an invasion of Ukraine.
He said he told Mr Putin that the escalation would see western states increase support for Ukraine, meaning “more Nato, not less Nato” on Russia’s borders.
Russia and Ukraine conflict latest - in pictures
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A tank, seen left, fires a round in Soledar, a town in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Tank fire in Soledar, Donetsk. Reuters -
Firefighters work to put out a blaze at a Kharkiv fireworks storage site after it was struck by a Russian missile. Getty -
Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, visits his troops on the frontline in Soledar, Donetsk. Reuters -
A Ukrainian flag attached to a tank flutters in the wind in Bakhmut. Reuters -
A specialist from an emergency crew works on a residential building in Donetsk that was damaged in recent shelling. Reuters -
A missile fragment left by shelling in Russian-controlled Donetsk. AP -
Residents remove debris and carry their belongings out of a building destroyed by recent shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian forces fire an anti-aircraft weapon as Russia's attack on the frontline city of Bakhmut continues. Reuters -
A car drives past a destroyed building purported to have been used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers, dozens of whom were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in Makiivka, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Reuters -
The site of a temporary barracks for Russian soldiers in Makiivka, which was destroyed in a Ukrainian missile attack. Reuters -
A Ukrainian serviceman carries his injured comrade from the battlefield to a hospital in the Donetsk region. AP -
Smoke rises after shelling in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk region. AP
“He said, ‘Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join Nato 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.
“He sort of 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.
“I think from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also spoke to the Putin vs The West programme, to be broadcast on Monday evening, about his journey to Moscow in February as he sought to reach a breakthrough and avert war.
He recalls speaking to Russia’s Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu, and chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov.
Drones and weapons supplied to Ukraine - in pictures
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Turkeysold its Bayraktar TB2 armed drones to Ukraine. They can fly at an altitude of 7,500 metres and swoop down to attack targets. AFP -
The US also gave 700 of its Switchblade kamikaze drones. AP -
Cheap commercial drones like the DJI Mavic series have been modified in Ukraine. AFP -
Germany will follow the US in providing a Patriot missile defence system, pictured above, to Ukraine. Reuters -
FIM-92 Stinger rockets have been donated to help Ukrainian infantry engage aircraft and drones. The shoulder-launched missiles can shoot down aircraft. Photo: US Army -
Germany donated 25 Flakpanzer Gepard all-weather-capable self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. AFP -
The High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or Himars, can simultaneously launch several precision-guided missiles. The US has given Ukraine projectiles with a range of about 130 kilometres. EPA -
M777 howitzers and about 300,000 shells have been donated to give Ukraine an accurate artillery platform with a range of 50 kilometres. EPA -
Ukraine has been sent at least 5,000 of the anti-tank weapons known as NLAWs. These shoulder-launched rockets have proved deadly in the field. PA -
Ukrainian troops have also received thousands of Javelin anti-tank missiles. Bloomberg -
Poland and the Czech Republic sent Russian-made T72 tanks, which Ukraine has used for decades, to ease integration and cut down training time. EPA -
France as announced its plan to give AMX-10 RC “scout tanks” to Ukraine. "This is the first time that western-made armoured vehicles are being delivered in support of the Ukrainian army," a French official said. AFP -
Shortly after the French, the US said it would send Bradley fighting vehicles to provide "a level of firepower and armour that would bring advantages on the battlefield”. Reuters -
The UK sent their phased-out Saxon armoured vehicles. They found new life protecting infantry units in transit and dealing with tough off-road conditions. Getty Images -
Denmark has supplied Harpoon anti-ship launchers to help Ukraine defend its coasts. AFP -
The US sent 20 Soviet and Russian made Mi-17 helicopters to Ukraine that had initially been bought for the Afghan government in 2010. AP -
Germany has also supplied its latest version of the IRIS-T air defence system designed to shoot down missiles at altitudes up to 20 kilometres. Getty Images -
Ukraine has also been given thousands of small arms, bullet proof vests, medical kits, litres of fuel, granades and other weapons systems. Reuters
“And I remember saying to Minister Shoigu, ‘They will fight,’ and he said, ‘My mother is Ukrainian, they won’t',” Mr Wallace said.
“He also said he had no intention of invading. That would be vran’e in the Russian language. Vran’e I think is sort of a demonstration of bullying or strength: 'I’m going to lie to you. You know I’m lying. I know you know I’m lying and I’m still going to lie to you'.
“He knew I knew and I knew he knew. But I think it was about saying I’m powerful.
“It was the fairly chilling but direct lie of what they were not going to do that I think to me confirmed they were going to do it.
“I remember as we were walking out, Gen Gerasimov said, ‘Never again will we be humiliated. We used to be the fourth army in the world, we’re now number two. It’s now America and us.’
“And there in that minute was that sense of potentially why [they were doing this].”
The programme also hears from Mr Zelenskyy about his efforts to win over Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Putin says world facing most dangerous decade since Second World War - video
“I told him, ‘Jens, I want to join Nato, do you see us in Nato?’ Because nothing would defend our country except for actual membership,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
“I said, ‘It’s just unfair and not nice. You don’t see us as equals.’ I told him that our army is ready, our society is ready, and I believed that Nato is not ready.”
He tells of his frustration with the Nato position before the conflict.
“If you know that tomorrow Russia will occupy Ukraine, why don’t you give me something today I can stop it with? Or if you can’t give it to me, then stop it yourself.”
