““Minor scum.” Bob Woodward described how Johnson convinced Putin not to attack Ukraine in the fall of 2021 October 15, 19:46 Share: Boris Johnson (Photo: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls) Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Russian dictator Putin “creepy” and “small scum”, and also tried to convince him in 2021 that Ukraine will not join NATO in the near future and that Russia has no reason to invade. The British writes about it”, — write on: ua.news
Boris Johnson (Photo: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the Russian dictator Putin “creepy” and “small scum”, and also tried to convince him in 2021 that Ukraine will not join NATO in the near future and Russia has no reason to invade. The British tabloid Daily Express writes about this with reference to the new book War by The Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward.
According to Woodward, during a phone conversation with Putin in the fall of 2021, Johnson said that he had no reason to attack Ukraine because “There is no way Ukraine will join NATO in the near future.” Putin then reportedly asked: “What does ‘in the near future’ mean?” when is it Per month?”. In response, Johnson argued that “in the foreseeable future” Ukraine will not join the Alliance. As he believed then, the Russian dictator knew that Ukraine would not soon become a member of NATO, but he wanted to hear it from Western leaders.
The phone conversation took place after the G20 summit in Rome in October 2021, during which world leaders were secretly briefed on the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Daily Express reports that the room was checked for bugs, and afterwards US President Joe Biden told the world leaders present: “We have all seen the Russians pull forces to the border again, as they did in April. Now we have information about what they are really thinking, planning and plotting. We don’t know if they actually decided to pull the trigger, but the gun is cocked.”
According to Woodward’s book, Johnson, who was also briefed by MI6 and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, accepted the intelligence as credible, while French President Emmanuel Macron, then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor Olaf Scholz remained skeptical.
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The then British Prime Minister decided that Putin is a monster, even if he is not actually planning an invasion, but bluffing. He thought that the Russian dictator had cornered the West “trapped,” but was convinced that for NATO to publicly deny the open door policy would mean “admitting defeat.” In a conversation with a colleague, Johnson mentioned Putin “small, malicious scum.”
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The new book by the deputy editor of The Washington Post, Bob Woodward War, which will be published in October, reveals a number of scandalous details of US foreign policy in recent years, in particular regarding Russia and Ukraine.