Boris Johnson has clapped back at Nigel Farage for his comments about the former prime minister in an interview with Fox News during his visit to the US.
Speaking with anchor Bret Baier on Tuesday, where he discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, Mr Johnson was asked about Mr Farage’s remarks about his relationship with truth.
“You know, you said something in a British documentary about [Vladimir] Putin saying that you felt that he was threatening you at one of the conversations you had about I could fire a missile, essentially to take you out,” Mr Baier said.
“The Russians pushed back on that characterisation very hard. Some of your own countrymen raised questions about it,” he continued and then played a clip of Mr Farage.
“As ever with Boris Johnson. You know, lots of personality, lots of colour. Good story. But when it comes to facts, when it comes to detail, when it comes to the absolute truth, I think Boris Johnson’s relationship with those things is somewhat loose, to put it mildly,” Mr Farage can be heard saying in the clip.
The Fox News anchor then asked Mr Johnson to respond to the comments.
“Well, look, I think that the Kremlin and I don’t know if Nigel’s speaking for the Kremlin, but the Kremlin are fabled for their complete refusal to tell the truth about anything that’s happening in Ukraine,” the former prime minister replied.
“I think what Putin was trying to do was creep me out… Bret, what he was trying to do was reduce it to a story about a nuclear standoff between Russia and Nato,” he added.
“And that’s what he talks about. You know, I don’t want to harm you with a missile. He wants it to be about Russia versus Nato, and he wants to drag in the whole nuclear issue. We’ve got to avoid being sucked down that rabbit hole. This is not what it’s about. It’s about the invasion of a completely innocent country.”
Mr Johnson also said that the West, including the United States and the UK, must continue to supply Ukraine with what they need to fight Russia.
“This is the moment to double down on our support. Give them what they need, whether it’s the tanks or the long-range artillery. They need to kick Putin out of the whole of the territory,” Mr Johnson said.
“The faster Putin gets out of Ukraine and the quicker we return to stability and the more powerful the message we send to people like China that the West – America, the UK – will not tolerate aggressive attempts to change borders by force,” he added.
