Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike

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, Report informs via the BBC.

The then-prime minister said Mr Putin told him it "would only take a minute".

Johnson said the comment was made after he warned the war would be an "utter catastrophe" during a "very long" call in February 2022.

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.

"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."

Johnson says he offered to help move Zelenskyy to safety.

"He doesn't take me up on that offer. He heroically stayed where he was," he stressed.