MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Russia summons UK ambassador to protest Johnson's “insulting, offensive rhetoric”

Russian foreign ministry told Ambassador Deborah Bronnert that it “firmly” opposed “the openly offensive comments by the British authorities towards Russia, its leader”

Russia on Thursday summoned Britain's ambassador to Moscow to seek clarification on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's “offensive” remarks about president Vladimir Putin.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry told Ambassador Deborah Bronnert that it “firmly” opposed “the openly offensive comments by the British authorities towards Russia, its leader, its officials as well as the Russian people.”

Slamming the “unacceptable insulting rhetoric”, the ministry's statement further added, “in a polite society, it is customary to apologize for remarks of this kind”.

The Russian foreign ministry also objected to British statements about “deliberately false information, in particular about alleged Russian 'threats to use nuclear weapons'”.

Previously, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace accused the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman of “every week, threatening to nuke everyone or doing something or another”.

Johnson on Wednesday said that if Russian President Putin was a woman, he would not have invaded Ukraine, what Moscow calls a “special military operation” that was launched on February 24 this year. In a quite sarcastic way, Johnson dubbed Putin's decision of Ukraine's invasion a “perfect example of toxic masculinity”.

The British PM also mocked Putin's macho posturing. Boris told German broadcaster ZDF: “If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn't, but if he were, I really don't think he would've embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has.”