'A lie': Kremlin denies former UK premier Johnson's 'missile threat' by Putin

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Kremlin on Monday denied claims by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike during the early stages of Moscow’s war against Kyiv.

"What Mr. (Boris) Johnson said is not true. More precisely, it is a lie," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

Peskov said he is aware of the contents of the telephone conversation between Putin and Johnson, noting that the latter either made a deliberate lie or "actually did not understand" what the Russian leader was talking about.

“Once again I officially repeat: this is a lie, there were no threats with missiles. Speaking about the challenges for the security of the Russian Federation, President Putin noted that if Ukraine joins NATO, the potential deployment of NATO or American missiles on our borders will mean that any missile will reach Moscow in a matter of minutes. If this passage was perceived in this way … it is a very awkward situation," Peskov added.

Johnson claimed in a BBC documentary that Putin “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."

Peskov said there were no substantive contacts between Russia and NATO at the moment.

"There are no such contacts ... NATO stopped any substantive contacts with our country. Therefore, at the moment it is very difficult to talk about such contacts," Peskov said.

He added that there are many groups in Europe which oppose involvement in the Ukraine war, which began last February, particularly through the provision of battle tanks.

“You know that in all European countries there are certain circles in society that oppose actions that would lead to an increase in the degree of involvement of these countries in the conflict over Ukraine. Indeed, there are such social forces in many countries, and they openly talk about it,” Peskov said.

Germany last week agreed to send 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, finally giving in to months of pressure from the US and its NATO allies.

It would also allow other countries who have the German-made armored vehicles to deliver them to Ukraine.