Never again will we be humiliated - Ben Wallace recalls what Gerasimov said before invading Ukraine

The British minister spoke about this in the BBC documentary Putin vs. the West.

He said that on February 11, 2022, he visited Moscow to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. At the same time, the Russian authorities continued to say that they were not going to start a major war against Ukraine. Wallace left Russia with these assurances.

Wallace described the meeting as "a demonstration of bullying or strength, which is: I'm going to lie to you, you know I'm lying and I know you know I'm lying and I'm still going to lie to you."

"I think it was about saying 'I'm powerful'," the British minister added.

He noted that both sides knew that Russia was lying. He called it a “fairly chilling, but direct lie" that confirmed his fears of a major war.

At the end of the meeting in Moscow, Gerasimov told the head of the British Ministry of Defense that "never again will we (Russia - ed.) be humiliated."

The details of this conversation are revealed in the BBC documentary Putin vs. the West, which focuses on the Russian president's interaction with world leaders. The film will be aired on Monday, January 30, on BBC 2. 

• Earlier, it was also reported that Vladimir Putin threatened Boris Johnson with a missile strike in a telephone conversation on February 24, when he was the Prime Minister of Great Britain.