Farage under fire for comments favouring Putin amidst Ukraine war

Following his comments on Russia and Vladimir Putin on Friday, Nigel Farage, the Eurosceptic politician from the United Kingdom, has been the target of a wave of criticism. "What he said was completely wrong and only plays into Putin's hands," said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

On Friday, the BBC decided to confront Farage with some of his controversial past statements. Among them was a post on one of the social media platforms from February 2022. Farage opined then that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was "a consequence of EU and NATO expansion."

In response to the station's question, Farage replied that since the 90s, he has consistently argued that the "continuous expansion eastward" by NATO and the EU provides Putin with "a reason to tell Russians that '(they - editor's note) will come after us again and start a war'." He also added that in his opinion, we "provoked this war. Of course, it is his (Putin's - editor's note) fault."

The BBC also asked Farage about his 2014 statement, in which he listed Putin as the politician he admired the most. Farage explained that he "said he doesn't like him as a person but admires him as a politician because he managed to control the governance of Russia."

On Saturday, leaders of other main political parties criticised Farage's words. "What he said was completely wrong and works in Putin's favour. This is a man who used chemical weapons on the streets of the UK, who makes deals with countries like North Korea. This kind of concession is dangerous for the security of the UK, the security of our allies who rely on us, and it only emboldens Putin" – declared Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, called Farage's words "disgraceful."

"I've always been clear that [Vladimir] Putin bears responsibility, sole responsibility, for the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and we have always stood behind Ukraine. And I think anybody who wants to stand to be a representative in our parliament should be really clear that whether it's Russian aggression on the battlefield or online, that we stand against that aggression. That's standing behind Ukraine, but also standing up for our freedom," he stated.

Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said, "It is Putin and Russia who are to blame for this, no one else". - "I strongly support the efforts that Britain has made to support Ukrainians. I wish we had done more actually, and I think British people would be shocked if we do anything else," he said. Davey added, "I don't share any values with Nigel Farage."

The Reform UK party, led by Farage, currently has support levels between 15-20% in polls, enough to come close to, and sometimes even surpass, the Conservative Party, which usually ranks second. However, due to the prevailing majority voting system, in the election to the House of Commons scheduled for 4 July, the party can hope to secure at most a few seats.