Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party, attributed the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the eastward expansion of the European Union and NATO.
During a BBC interview aired on Friday, Farage reiterated his stance, which has been a subject of intense debate ahead of the July 4 election. His party is anticipated to gain significant support.
Farage maintained his position from February 2022, when he claimed on social media that Russia’s actions were a “consequence of EU and NATO expansion.”
He stated that he had foreseen a conflict in Ukraine as early as 2014.
“It was obvious to me that the ever-eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union was giving this man a reason to his Russian people to say, ‘They’re coming for us again’ and to go to war,” Farage said in the BBC interview.
He added, “We provoked this war … of course it’s his (Putin’s) fault – he’s used what we’ve done as an excuse.”
Russia describes its military actions in Ukraine as part of a broader conflict with the West, which it claims aims to weaken Russia.
Both Kyiv and Western nations reject this narrative, accusing Russia of conducting an illegal war of conquest.
Farage’s long-standing opposition to Britain’s EU membership and mass immigration has made him a highly recognized and polarizing figure in British politics.
His unexpected entry into the election race has further complicated Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s efforts to close the gap with the centre-left Labour Party in opinion polls.
Although Reform UK is unlikely to secure many parliamentary seats, it could potentially split the right-of-centre vote nationwide.
The party held only one seat in the previous parliament, gained through a defection from a Conservative lawmaker.
Farage’s comments on Ukraine were swiftly condemned. Prime Minister Sunak stated that Farage was “completely wrong,” accusing him of appeasement and endangering Britain’s and its allies’ security.
Labour’s defence spokesman John Healey called Farage’s remarks disgraceful, branding him a “Putin apologist.”
Farage later posted on X: “Putin was wrong to invade a sovereign nation, and the EU was wrong to expand eastward.
“The sooner we realise this, the closer we will be to ending the war and delivering peace.”