Nigel Farage slammed for Vladimir Putin ‘appeasement’

The Reform UK party leader doubles down on his claims that the West ‘provoked this war’.

Nigel Farage is interviewed on Friday in London. Picture: BBC via Getty Images

Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s anti-immigration Reform UK party, faced strong criticism at the weekend after saying the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In an interview with the BBC on Friday, Mr Farage said “we’ve provoked this war”, while adding that “of course” it was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “fault”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday that Mr Farage’s claim was “completely wrong and only plays into Putin’s hands”, likening the comments to “appeasement”.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, set to take Mr Sunak’s job after next month’s election, said Mr Farage’s comments were “disgraceful”. “Anyone who is standing for parliament ought to be really clear that Russia is the aggressor,” Sir Keir said on the campaign trail.

Mr Farage is seeking to win the seat of Clacton in eastern England. His party is polling third behind the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour, and is predicted to pick up a few seats.

In the BBC interview Mr Farage doubled down on claims he made at the start of the war. He insisted Putin’s invasion was the “consequence” of expansion by the EU and NATO.

He added, however, that he was not a supporter of the Russian leader and merely admired him as a “political operator” because he had “managed to take control of running Russia”.

“We provoked this war. Of course it’s his fault (but) he’s used what we’ve done as an excuse.

“It was obvious to me that the ever-eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union was giving this man a reason (to say) to his Russian people, ‘They’re coming for us again’, and to go to war.

“I’m the only person in British politics that predicted what would happen – and of course everyone said I was a pariah for daring to suggest it. My judgment has been way ahead of everybody else’s in understanding this.”

Mr Farage’s comments were condemned by senior figures, who accused him of “playing directly into Putin’s hands”.

Home Secretary James Cleverly criticised Mr Farage for “echoing Putin’s vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine”.

Former Tory defence minister Tobias Ellwood in The Daily Telegraph called the comments “shocking”, adding that British wartime leader Winston Churchill “will be turning in his grave”.

Labour defence spokesman John Healey called the comments “disgraceful” and said Mr Farage’s stance made him “unfit for any political office in our country”.

Lib Dems leader Ed Davey added that he did not “share any values” with Mr Farage.

Former defence secretary Ben Wallace, who was an officer in the British Army, said Mr Farage was expressing “sympathy” for a dictator who “deployed nerve agents on the streets of Britain”.

“Farage constantly lectures everyone about sovereignty but is happy to placate a dictator. He too often shows an unhealthy relationship with the Kremlin’s talking points. He is more Chamberlain than Churchill,” Mr Wallace said

Russian media, however, was more enthusiastic about Mr Farage’s comments. A newsreader on Channel One state media said he was “an experienced politician who follows the moods of the electorate”. Channel One posted on Twitter that he was among the European politicians “showing enlightenment and sanity”.

Kremlin propagandist and show host Olga Skabeyeva wrote on Telegram: “ ‘We provoked the war in Ukraine’ – the leader of the Reform UK is trying to win the votes of those English people who do not want to go to war with Ukraine.”

UK party leaders have largely maintained a united stance on the Ukraine war, condemning Russia as the aggressor and backing NATO’s response

AFP