Nigel Farage’s claim that the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been condemned by leaders across the political spectrum.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the comment was “completely wrong and only serves Putin’s interest,” accusing the UK reform leader of “appeasement” that “poses a danger to Britain’s security.”
In an interview with BBC Panorama, Farage said the war was “of course” President Vladimir Putin’s fault, but the expansion of the European Union and NATO gave him a reason to tell the Russian people that “they are coming after us again.”
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer described the comments as “disgraceful”, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey described Mr Farage as a “Putin apologist”. The SNP said it was “an insult to all Ukrainians who have suffered”.
- author, Brian Wheeler
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Sunak said, during an election campaign visit in London: “What he is doing [Mr Farage] “What he said was completely wrong and only serves Putin’s interests.”
He added: “This is a man [Mr Putin] The one who spread nerve gas on the streets of Britain, and the one who makes deals with countries like North Korea, and this kind of appeasement is dangerous to Britain’s security, and the security of our allies who depend on us, and only encourages Putin more.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir said Putin “bears sole responsibility” for the invasion of Ukraine, and that “anyone who wants to be represented in our Parliament should be really clear… that we stand against this aggression.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “As I travel across our country in cities, towns and villages, British people raise the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of solidarity and hope for their future.
“Nigel Farage has proven that he is on the side of Putin, not on the side of freedom.”
Brendan O’Hara of the Scottish National Party National saidHe added: “In defending the indefensible, Farage has once again demonstrated how out of touch his views are with voters in Scotland.”
In his interview with Panorama, Nick Robinson asked the former UKIP and Brexit Party leader about his previous comments about Putin.
He replied: “I said that I did not like him as a person, but I admired him as a political worker because he managed to control the administration of Russia.”
He said it had been “clear” to him for many years “that the eastern expansion of NATO and the EU was giving this man a reason for his Russian people to say, ‘They’re coming after us again’ and not to go to war.”
Under further pressure, he added: “We caused this war. It’s his fault, of course. He used what we did as an excuse.”
After the interview aired on Friday, Farage, a former member of the European Parliament, said on Channel X that he was “one of the few figures who has been consistent and honest about the war with Russia.”
Along with the new statement, he republished a speech in the European Parliament from 2014 in which he called on the West to “stop playing war games with Putin.”
Labour’s shadow defense secretary, John Healey, said the comments made the UK reform leader “unsuitable for any political office in our country, let alone leading a serious party in Parliament”.
The Ukrainian presidency told the BBC that it would not issue an official statement regarding Farage’s statements.
But a source in the presidential office warned of “the virus of Putinism and the rise of war propaganda,” adding: “The task of civilized humanity is to fight this virus in its infancy.”
The UK Reform Party has been gaining ground over the Conservative Party in opinion polls since Farage announced he would return to front politics as party leader shortly after the start of the general election campaign.
He said his goal is for Reform to replace the Conservatives as the official opposition to Labour, which he says is certain to come to power on July 4, even though opinion polls suggest the party may win only a few seats in this election.
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