BBC learned from Wallace the last words of Gerasimov before the invasion of Ukraine

Wallace added that “a rather frightening and outright lie” confirmed his belief that Russia would invade.

The BBC service learned more about the last conversation between British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov before a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On February 11, Wallace reportedly arrived in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu. According to the head of the British Ministry of Defense, he returned with assurances that Russia “would never invade Ukraine”, but added that “both sides understood that this was a lie.”

Wallace described the conversation with the Russian military command as “a demonstration of the power of intimidation: I’m going to lie to you, you know that I’m lying, and I know that you know that I’m lying, but I will continue to lie to you.

Wallace added that “a rather frightening and outright lie” confirmed his belief that Russia would invade. Walking out of the meeting, Wallace said, Gerasimov told him that “we will never be humiliated again.”