Vlad to worse

Johnson botched peace, claims Putin

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

VLADIMIR Putin has repeated his claim that Boris Johnson scuppered talks for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Mr Putin insisted the war could have ended 18 months ago but the former Tory Prime Minister "dissuaded" Kyiv from reaching an agreement.

Mr Johnson has previously labelled the Russian despot's claim nonsense.

In his first interview with Western media since his invasion, Mr Putin made several outlandish allegations.

And he threatened the US with a "global war" if it sends troops to Ukraine. Speaking about 2022 peace talks in Istanbul, Mr Putin said Kyiv backed out of a deal after Mr Johnson said it was "better to fight Russia".

The Kremlin leader added: "We were ready to sign it, and the war would have been over long ago, 18 months ago.

"They would give everything needed for us to return what was lost during the clashes with Russia. And we agreed.