---
title: "Britain's Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike"
description: "LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike during a phone call in the run up to the invasion of Ukraine, a charge denied by Moscow."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Missile threats"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-01-30-britains-boris-johnson-says-putin-threatened-him-with-missile-strike/"
published: "2023-01-30T13:26:16"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 239
---

# Britain's Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike

> LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike during a phone call in the run up to the invasion of Ukraine, a charge denied by Moscow.

By Reuters · Published 30 January 2023, 15:26 SAST

## Key points
- Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile during a phone call. Johnson said the call happened in February 2022, after he had visited Kyiv and was attempting to negotiate with Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the claim, saying it was "more precisely, a lie". Relations between Moscow and London had been strained for some time prior to this incident due to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in 2018. Johnson had been a strong ally of Kyiv during his term as Prime Minister and visited frequently, including on a trip this month.
- Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile during a call in February 2022.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called Johnson's claim "a lie".
- Relations between Moscow and London had deteriorated before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2018.
- Johnson visited Kyiv several times while in office, and returned this month.

## Content

Johnson, speaking to the BBC for a documentary, said the Russian leader had asked him about the prospects of Ukraine joining NATO, to which he had responded it would not be "for the foreseeable future".

"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," Johnson said, recalling the "very long" and "most extraordinary" call in February 2022 which followed a visit by the then prime minister to Kyiv.

"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."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov [told reporters](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AR4N33W02M&linkedFromStory=true) what Johnson had said was not true, or "more precisely, a lie".

Relations between Moscow and London had sunk to their lowest level in decades even before Russia invaded Ukraine, on the back of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the British city of Salisbury in 2018.

Johnson, who stepped down in September in the wake of a series of scandals, sought to position London as Kyiv's top ally in the West. While in office he visited Kyiv several times and called Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy frequently.

He also [visited again](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34707N&linkedFromStory=true) this month.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Christina Fincher and Alison Williams)