UncleEbenezer wrote:That's two men known for the outright (and shameless) lie.
My money's on this one being a misrepresentation (probably deliberate) of something Putin said. But that what he really said wasn't entirely friendly, either.
I see no reason to doubt Boris on this. Putin has a long record of taking out his opponents by assassination, using poisoning, irradiation, being thrown out of tall buildings, and making deaths look like suicide. In fact, I have always had a strong impression that he likes to play with the West, making the deaths superficially look unconnected and unattributable, while leaving behind just enough evidence that gives the clear message that Russia is responsible and exacting revenge.
Actually I suspect this type of verbal threat goes on a lot in diplomatic relations between countries, just that normally we never get to hear about it because the various leaders and foreign ministries prefer to hide things in diplomatic jargon. Wellington may have said that commanders had better things to do that take pot shots at other generals (at Waterloo), but that view has been unfashionable for 150 years.