Boris Johnson admits to meeting ex-KGB officer without officials when foreign secretary
Boris Johnson has admitted that he met with Russian oligarch and former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev without officials present while foreign secretary.
During a grilling at the liaison committee on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said he did meet Lebedev, as he used to own the Evening Standard newspaper.
Lebedev, a Russian banker, is reported to have made vast amounts of money after the fall of the Soviet Union.
"You are asking me a very specific question about a very specific date and I would have to get back to you," the prime minister, who was foreign secretary between 2016 and 2018, told MPs when asked if the pair met on April 28 2018.
"I certainly have met the gentleman in question who used to be the proprietor of the London Evening Standard when I was mayor of London.
"I am certainly not going to deny having met Alexander Lebedev. I certainly have."
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When pressed for details, the under-pressure PM then admitted that he "probably" did meet the former KGB agent in Italy without officials present when he was foreign secretary.
He said he met Lebedev on "a very few occasions". The PM suggested that he thinks he did report the specific encounter in Italy to officials.
The disclosure comes amid an investigation by the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee over the appointment of Mr Lebedev’s son, Evgeny Lebedev, to the House of Lords.
The appointment has been shrouded in controversy after The Sunday Times alleged security services withdrew an assessment that granting the peerage posed a national security risk after the prime minister intervened.
While London mayor and foreign secretary, Mr Johnson visited Lord Lebedev's mansion in Italy every year to attend parties.
When it was announced Lord Lebedev would be given a peerage, the government came under significant criticism and faced accusations of cronyism.
Mr Johnson is in the political fight of his life after suffering a swathe of further ministerial resignations on Wednesday following the resignations of two of his most senior cabinet colleagues the previous evening.