LONDON: Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s anti-immigration Reform Britain party, faced strong criticism on Saturday after saying the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In an interview BBC “We started this war,” Farage said on Friday, adding that “of course” Russian President Vladimir Putin was “to blame.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told reporters that Mr Farage’s claims were “completely false and exactly what Putin wants”.
Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is expected to succeed Mr Sunak after next month’s general election, said Mr Farage’s comments were “disgraceful”.
“Anyone running for parliament should be clear that Russia is the aggressor,” he told reporters during the campaign.
Farage, a former European Union member of parliament who has tried unsuccessfully seven times to stand for a Westminster constituency, is running for the seat of Clacton in eastern England in next month’s general election.
His party is polling third behind the ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party but is expected to win only a handful of seats.
Still, Reform UK’s popularity has soared since Mr Farage became leader this month, threatening to rob the Conservatives of badly needed votes to win a fifth term in power.
His comments sparked outrage on Saturday.
Home Secretary James Cleverley accused Mr Farage of “repeating Putin’s vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine”.
Former Conservative defence minister Tobias Ellwood called the comments “shocking”. The Daily Telegraph The paper added: “Churchill would be writhing in his grave.”
Meanwhile, Labour’s defence spokesman, John Healey, said the comments were “disgraceful” and that his stance was “unbecoming of any political office in our country”.
Pressed further on his view of Putin in the interview, Farage said he “dislikes Putin as a person” but “respects him as a politician for the way he runs Russia.”
Farage, a former leading Brexit figure, is close to former US president Donald Trump and has said that Trump is “very good friends” with Putin.
Farage has also stated his intention to run for prime minister in 2029.
In response to Sunak, Britain’s first woman of colour to become prime minister, leaving a ceremony in France to mark the Normandy landings early, Mr Abe maintained his claim that he “does not understand British culture”.
In an interview, he clarified that he meant that Sunak was “too posh.”
Mr Farage’s comments about Mr Sunak, made for the first time during a leadership debate, also drew criticism, with one Conservative minister saying he found them “deeply unpleasant”.
