<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Boris Johnson has said Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike in an "extraordinary" phone call in the run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The then-prime minister said Mr Putin told him it "would only take a minute".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Johnson said the comment was made after he warned the war would be an "utter catastrophe" during a "very long" call in February 2022.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Details of the exchange are revealed in a BBC documentary, examining Mr Putin's interactions with world leaders.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Johnson warned Mr Putin that invading Ukraine would lead to Western sanctions and more Nato troops on Russia's borders.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also tried to deter Russian military action by telling Mr Putin that Ukraine would not join Nato "for the foreseeable future".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But Mr Johnson said: "He threatened me at one point, and he said, 'Boris, I don't want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute' or something like that. Jolly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"But 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."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">President Putin had been "very familiar" during the "most extraordinary call", Mr Johnson said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is impossible to know if Mr Putin's threat was genuine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, given previous Russian attacks on the UK - most recently in Salisbury in 2018 - any threat from the Russian leader, however lightly delivered, is probably one Mr Johnson would have had no choice but to take seriously.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nine days later, on 11 February, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace flew to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The BBC documentary Putin Vs the West reveals Mr Wallace left with assurances that Russia would not invade Ukraine, but he said both sides knew it was a lie.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He described it as a "demonstration of bullying or strength, which is: I'm going to lie to you, you know I'm lying and I know you know I'm lying and I'm still going to lie to you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I think it was about saying 'I'm powerful'," Mr Wallace said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said the "fairly chilling, but direct lie" had confirmed his belief that Russia would invade.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As he left the meeting, he said Gen Valery Gerasimov - Russia's chief of general staff - told him "never again will we be humiliated".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Less than a fortnight later, as tanks rolled over the border on 24 February, Mr Johnson received a phone call in the middle of the night from President Zelensky.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Zelensky's very, very calm," Mr Johnson recalled. "But, he tells me, you know, they're attacking everywhere."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Johnson says he offered to help move the president to safety.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"He doesn't take me up on that offer. He heroically stayed where he was." BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>