Nigel Farage ‘plays into Putin’s hands’ with ‘completely wrong’ comments on Ukraine war, says Rishi Sunak | Politics News

Rishi Sunak said Nigel Farage’s comments that the West was provoking Vladimir Putin were “completely wrong” and played into the hands of the Russian dictator.

The leader of Reform UK is facing criticism from across the political spectrum for saying NATO and EU enlargement “provoked” Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Mr Sunak told reporters: “What he said was completely wrong and only plays into Putin’s hands.”

“This is a man who has used nerve agents on the streets of Britain, doing business with countries like North Korea and

“And this kind of appeasement is dangerous for the security of Britain, the security of our allies who depend on us, and only emboldens Putin further.”

In an interview with BBC Panorama last night, Mr Farage He had been warning since the fall of the Berlin Wall that a war in Ukraine would break out due to the “ever eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union”.

He said this gave Mr Putin a reason to tell the Russian people: “They are coming back to get us” and go to war.

The reform The Russian president reiterated his belief that the West had “provoked” the conflict, but said the blame “of course” lies with the Russian president.

Asked about his comments in 2014 Farage said Putin was the statesman he admired most, saying: “I said I don’t like him as a person, but I admire him as a political actor because he has managed to take control of the leadership of Russia.”

Mr Putin has served continuously as either president or prime minister of Russia since 1999, and the elections have been described as “rigged”.

Mr Sunak is the latest Conservative to condemn the comments, after Home Secretary James Cleverly said Mr Farage was “repeating Putin’s vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine”.

Meanwhile, former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described the chairman of Reform UK as a “bar-bore who often says ‘I would run the country’ and gives very simplistic answers to what I fear are, in the 21st century, truly complex problems”.

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Mr Farage has so far the campaign went relatively smoothlywith his party’s popularity increasing and even overtaking the Conservatives in some polls.

Leading Tories, some of whom want Mr Farage to unite to counter the threat posed by “Reform UK”, have so far refrained from personal attacks such as those against Sir Keir Starmer.

The most that Cabinet ministers have said against him so far is that a vote for him would be a vote to put Labour in Downing Street with a “supermajority”.

Starmer: Farage’s comments ‘shameful’

Sir Keir also condemned Mr Farage’s comments, calling them “disgraceful”.

“It was always clear to me that Putin bears responsibility, sole responsibility, for Russian aggression in Ukraine,” he said.

“Anyone who wants to run as a member of our parliament should be clear that we stand against Russian aggression, whether it is Russian aggression on the battlefield or on the Internet.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “Putin and Russia are to blame, no one else.”

He added: “I do not share any values ​​with Nigel Farage.”

Following the backlash, the former Brexit Party leader posted a tweet late last night apparently seeking to clarify his comments.

He wrote: “I am one of the few people who have spoken consistently and honestly about the war with Russia. Putin’s invasion of a sovereign country was wrong and the EU made a mistake with its eastward expansion.”

“The sooner we realize this, the closer we will be to ending war and establishing peace.”