Russia mocked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as "utterly confused" and ridiculed British politicians for their "stupidity and ignorance" on Wednesday, hurling more scorn at the West after President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of trying to provoke war.

The comments demonstrated that publicly at least, the Kremlin doesn't mind offending those Western powers accusing Russia of planning to invade Ukraine.

Moscow, which has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, denies any plan to invade its neighbor but says it could take unspecified military measures if demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Ukraine to the military alliance.

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The Kremlin turned its rhetorical fire on Johnson, who canceled a phone call with Putin on Monday to answer questions in parliament about alcohol-fueled events in his Downing Street office during the COVID-19 lockdown - when Britons were banned from social mixing. 

Johnson visited Kyiv on Tuesday, accusing Russia of holding a gun to Ukraine's head.

"As you know, we have not announced any call with Prime Minister Johnson and are not going to announce it any further," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

"It makes sense to speak to anybody," Peskov added. "Russia and President Putin are open to communicating with everyone. Even to someone who is utterly confused, he is prepared to provide exhaustive explanations."

In addition, Russia's foreign ministry in turn mocked UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for saying Britain was sending supplies to its "Baltic allies across the Black Sea" – two bodies of water on opposite sides of Europe.

"Mrs. Truss, your knowledge of history is nothing compared to your knowledge of geography," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote in a blog post.

"If anyone needs saving from anything, it's the world, from the stupidity and ignorance of British politicians."

Putin's worst-case scenario

The swipes came a day after Putin spoke about the Ukraine crisis publicly for the first time this year, accusing Washington of trying to lure Moscow into war by insisting on the possibility that Kyiv could join NATO one day.

"It's already clear now... that fundamental Russian concerns were ignored," Putin said on Tuesday. 

He described a potential future scenario in which Ukraine was admitted to NATO and attempted to recapture the Crimea peninsula, a territory Russia annexed in 2014.