The Kremlin blasted Boris Johnson for “lying” last week after the former prime minister of Britain alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally threatened to take him out in a missile strike during a telephone call.
Vladimir Putin has never threatened Germany or its leadership, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said.
“No, Putin didn’t threaten me or Germany. During our telephone calls, our very different perspectives on the war in Ukraine have become very clear,” Scholz said in an interview with German media published Sunday when asked to comment on Boris Johnson’s explosive claims.
Scholz said he made “very clear” to the Russian president Berlin’s position that Moscow alone was responsible for the Ukrainian crisis, and that Russia purportedly launched its special military operation “for no reason.” “We cannot simply accept that, because it's a fundamental violation of the European peace order. That is why we support Ukraine financially, through humanitarian aid and also with arms,” Scholz said.
The chancellor’s comments on the absence of threats against Germany by Russia stand at odds with remarks made by Johnson in a documentary which aired last week, in which the former prime minister said that Putin had told him “Boris, I don’t want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute or something like that. Jolly.”
Johnson’s tendency to exaggerate, embellish or outright lie to voters, constituents and parliament was a consistent staple of his reputation in his own country, with media even putting together compilations of his “worst lies, gaffes and scandals” after his resignation in disgrace last summer.
The Kremlin responded to Johnson’s Putin ‘missile’ comments with alarm, asking whether the lies were conscious or unconscious, and reiterating that what Putin actually told him was that if Ukraine joined NATO, “the potential deployment of NATO or American missiles at our borders (would) mean that any missile (would be able to) reach Moscow in a matter of minutes.” These comments appear to echo remarks Putin and other Russian officials made publicly before the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis last February.
Tanks for Ukraine
Commenting on Germany’s decision to approve the deployment of Leopard 2 main battle tanks in Ukraine, Scholz dismissed concerns aired by Moscow that the move was a reminder of German panzers in Ukraine during the Second World War, characterizing the latter as “a series of abstruse historical comparisons.” The chancellor assured instead that Berlin was sending “battle tanks to Ukraine so that they can defend themselves,” and that every arms shipment was being “weighed” in coordination with NATO and Washington to prevent the conflict from escalating.
Scholz said there was a “consensus” among Western powers that Ukraine would not use its NATO-provided weapons to attack Russia.
As for Ukraine’s bid for European Union membership, the chancellor said that “every candidate has to meet the necessary criteria” for consideration, including “issues of the rule of law, democracy, respect for human rights and the fight against corruption.” Asked if there could be some kind of special consideration for Kiev in light of the current conflict, Scholz reiterated that “the requirements for joining are the same for everyone.”
Ukraine has faced criticism even among sympathetic Western media for its government’s decisions to ban nearly a dozen so-called ‘pro-Russian’ political parties, consolidate state control over television and print media, and institute a campaign of repression against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, again allegedly over its links to Russia. Ukraine has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in Europe, with corruption-related concerns exacerbated amid questions about where the $100+ billion in US and EU aid to Kiev has gone, and evidence that arms sent to help fight Russia have wound up in the hands of criminal gangs in Europe and conflict zones far from Ukraine’s shores
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