"Boris, I don't want to hurt you, but with a missile it would only take a minute"... It was the "threat" launched by President Putin to Boris Johnson, in his last telephone conversation, as revealed by the former "premier" in a documentary which is broadcast on Monday by the BBC.
Despite the explosive content of the "extraordinary call", Johnson himself takes away the powder: "From the relaxed tone in which he told me, and that kind of detachment that he seemed to have, I think he was simply playing with my attempts to convince him to will negotiate".
The conversation occurred in mid-February 2022, after Johnson's visit to kyiv to secure support for President Volodmir Zelensky if Russia were to invade Ukraine.
Johnson warned Putin of "absolute catastrophe" and unprecedented sanctions on Russia by Western countries if he decided to declare war. The Russian president only seemed concerned about Ukraine's alleged NATO membership.
"Boris, you are telling me that Ukraine is not going to join NATO "any time now". What does that mean?" Putin asked. To which Johnson replied: "He's not going to join NATO in the foreseeable future, you know that perfectly well." The former "premier" warned the Russian president in passing that an attack on Ukraine would provoke a unanimous reaction in Western countries and would mean "more NATO and not less NATO."
Boris Johnson was in the end the European leader who spearheaded the military support for kyiv, reinforced by his daily talks and his visits to President Zelensky during the Russian aggression (the last one, last week and as a personal friend and former "premier") .
Despite his status as an "outsider", Johnson has not stopped demanding attention in recent weeks. As he passed through Davos and in a special cover of The Daily Mail, the former conservative leader urged Germany to relent to international pressure and allow the shipment of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz relented after a few days.
The "premier" Rishi Sunak meanwhile confirmed the dispatch of a squadron of 14 British-made Challenger 2 tanks. In recent days, dozens of elite Ukrainian soldiers have traveled to British soil to train in tank management.
"Ukrainian tank crews have arrived in the UK to continue their fight against Russia," an official statement from the Ministry of Defense read. "The UK will provide these tanks to Ukraine, along with other global partners, to demonstrate the strength of international support for kyiv."
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