Kremlin: Putin did not threaten to kill Johnson in missile strike

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's claims about Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged missile strike threats during a phone conversation are nothing but lies, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, TASS reports.

"What Mr. Johnson said is not true. More precisely, this is a lie," Peskov said in a comment to a question about the telephone conversation that the former British prime minister had with Putin on February 2, 2022.

Johnson could "deliberately lie" about Putin's alleged personal threats, Dmitry Peskov said.

"It is either a deliberate lie — so you have to ask Mr Johnson why he chose to put it that way — or it was an unconscious lie and he did not in fact understand what Putin was talking to him about."

According to Peskov, Putin had told Johnson that if Ukraine joined NATO, then US or NATO missiles placed near Russia's borders would be able to reach Moscow in minutes. There may have been a misunderstanding, Peskov suggested.

Earlier, Johnson revealed details of his conversation with Putin before the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. The British politician claimed that the Russian leader, during a "very long and extremely extraordinary telephone conversation," tried to instill fear in him.

"Boris, I don't want to hurt you, but with a missile it will only take a minute,” Johnson allegedly quoted Putin as saying.