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Rishi Sunak said Nigel Farage’s claim that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was provoked by the West was “completely wrong and playing into Putin’s hands”.
The Prime Minister denounced the Reform UK leader’s “policy of appeasement” as “dangerous to the national security of the UK”.
Speaking to BBC Panorama, Mr Farage said the war was “of course” the fault of President Vladimir Putin, but the expansion of the EU and Nato gave Russians a reason to tell them “they’re coming at us too”.
The comments have drawn criticism from other parties, with Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer calling it “disgraceful” and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey saying he did not share Mr Farage’s values.
- author, Brian Wheeler
- role, Political reporter
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During a campaign visit to London, Sunak said: [Mr Farage] It’s completely wrong and just what Putin wants.”
He added: “This is a man. [Mr Putin] With Putin using nerve gas on British streets and conducting business with countries like North Korea, this appeasement policy is dangerous to Britain’s security, the security of our allies who rely on Britain, and will only embolden Putin further.”
Meanwhile, Sir Keir said “Putin bears full responsibility” for the invasion of Ukraine, adding: “Anyone who wants to stand for representation in our Parliament should make it very clear that we oppose that invasion.”
Speaking to Panorama, the former UKIP and Brexit Party leader was questioned by Nick Robinson about past comments he has made about Putin.
“I said I dislike him as a person, but I respect him as a statesman who has succeeded in controlling the running of Russia,” he replied.
“It has been ‘clear’ to me for many years that the continued eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union is giving this man an excuse to start a war by making the Russian people say, ‘They’re going to attack us again,'” he said.
Pressed further, he added: “We started this war. You know, of course he’s to blame. He used our actions as an excuse.”
After the interview aired on Friday, former MEP Mr Farage told X that he was “one of the few people who has been consistently honest about the war with Russia”.
Along with his new statement, he reposted a speech he gave to the European Parliament in 2014, in which he called on Western countries to “stop playing war games with Putin.”
Labour’s shadow defence secretary, John Healey, said the comments made the Reform UK leader “unfit to hold any political office in our country, let alone lead a serious political party in Parliament”.
The Ukrainian presidential office told the BBC there would be no official statement about Mr Farage’s comments.
But a presidential source warned of “the virus of Putinism and the rise of war propaganda”, adding that “the task of civilised humanity is to prevent this virus from spreading”.
Reform UK is catching up with the Conservative Party in opinion polls after Farage announced he was returning to the forefront of politics as party leader just after the start of the general election campaign.
The prime minister has said his goal is for the Reform Party to replace the Conservatives as the official opposition to Labour. He has said he is certain Labour will take power on July 4, but opinion polls suggest the party may only win a handful of seats in the upcoming election.
