Boris Johnson reveals the terrifying message he received from Vladimir Putin

Boris Johnson has revealed a terrifying warning he once received from Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on a BBC documentary about the Russian leader, Putin Vs the West, the former prime minister claimed Putin threatened him with a missile strike in an "extraordinary" phone call prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He said Putin told him it "would only take a minute" after he warned war would be an "utter catastrophe" that would lead to Western sanctions and more Nato troops on Russia's borders.

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."

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He said the "fairly chilling, but direct lie" had confirmed his belief that Russia would invade.

No reference to the exchange appeared in accounts of the call given by both Downing Street and the Kremlin, according to the BBC.

But it all sounds very chilling indeed.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace also spoke on Putin vs The West, which is set to air on Monday evening, about his journey to Moscow in February as he sought to reach a breakthrough and see off war.

He recalls speaking to Russia’s minister of defence Sergei Shoigu, as well as chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov.

“And I remember saying to minister Shoigu ‘they will fight’ and he said, ‘My mother is Ukrainian, they won’t!’ He also said he had no intention of invading,” Wallace said.

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