British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace talks about a conversation he allegedly had in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, less than two weeks before the start of the war, with Wallace saying he was lied to that Russia would not invade Ukraine, the BBC writes .

These statements were made by Ben Wallace in the BBC documentary “Putin vs. the West”, which will be broadcast on Monday evening.

“We will never be humiliated again”

Ben Wallace said that nine days after the phone conversation between Boris Johnson and Vladimir Putin on February 11, he traveled to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu. Wallace says he left with assurances that Russia would not invade Ukraine, but both sides knew that was a lie.

The British minister described the meeting with Shoigu as “a show of intimidation and force: ‘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.’ you.’ I think it was about saying, ‘I’m strong,'” Wallace said. He said that this lie confirms his belief that Russia will invade Ukraine.

The British official also reported that before leaving the meeting, the head of the General Staff, Russian General Valery Gerasimov, told him: “We will never be humiliated again.”

Less than two weeks after Ben Wallace left Moscow as Russian tanks invaded Ukraine on February 24, Boris Johnson received a midnight phone call from President Zelensky. “Zelensky was very, very calm. He told me, “You know, they’re attacking everywhere,” the former British prime minister recalled in the same documentary. He says he offered to help Zelensky get to a safe place, but he refused.