Sunak and Starmer criticise Farage over claims about Putin and Ukraine

Nigel Farage’s claim that the West provoked the Russian invasion of Ukraine was condemned by leading politicians across the political spectrum.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the comment was “completely wrong and only plays into Putin’s hands”. He accused the leader of the Reform Party UK of pursuing a “policy of appeasement” that was “dangerous for the security of Britain”.

In an interview with BBC Panorama, Farage said the war was “of course” President Vladimir Putin’s fault, but the expansion of the EU and NATO had given him a reason to tell the Russian people “they’re after us again”.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer branded the comments “disgraceful”, while Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey branded Mr Farage a “Putin apologist”. The SNP said it was “an insult to all Ukrainians who have suffered”.

During a campaign visit to London, Sunak said: “What he (Mr Farage) said was completely wrong and only plays into Putin’s hands.”

He added: “This is a man (Mr Putin) who has used nerve agents on the streets of Britain, who does business with countries like North Korea, 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.”

Sir Keir, meanwhile, said Mr Putin bore “sole responsibility” for the invasion of Ukraine and that “anyone who wants to stand as a member of our Parliament should be clear that we oppose this aggression”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “As I travel through the towns and villages of our country, the British fly the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of solidarity and hope for their future.”

“Nigel Farage has proven that he is on Putin’s side, not on the side of freedom.”

Brendan O’Hara of the SNP told The National: “By defending the indefensible, Farage has once again shown how closely his views align with those of Scottish voters.”

In his Panorama interview, the former leader of UKIP and Brexit Party was asked by Nick Robinson about his previous comments about Mr Putin.

“I said I don’t like him as a person, but I admire him as a political activist because he managed to take over the leadership of Russia,” he replied.

He said it had been “obvious” to him for many years “that the ever eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union gave this man a reason to tell his Russian people: ‘They’re coming back to get us’ and to go to war.”

When pressed further, he added: “We provoked this war. You know, of course it’s his fault – he used what we did as a pretext.”

After the interview aired on Friday, Farage, a former member of the European Parliament, said on X that he was “one of the few figures who has been consistent and honest about the war with Russia”.

In addition to the new statement, he also published a 2014 speech to the European Parliament in which he called on the West to “stop playing war games with Putin.”

John Healey, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, said the comments made the Reform UK leader “unfit for political office in our country, let alone leading a serious party in Parliament.”

The Ukrainian presidential office told the BBC that it would not issue an official statement on Mr Farage’s comments.

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 the bud.”