A suit jacket worn by Nigel Farage at Evgeny Lebedev’s garden party in 2016 has come back to haunt him as he goes on the defensive over comments made in relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Reform UK leader has been accused of spreading “Kremlin propaganda” following comments made in the run-up to the General Election.
Putin apologist
Farage said he was not a Putin “apologist” but “what I have been saying for the past 10 years is that the West has played into Putin’s hands, giving him the excuse to do what he wanted to do anyway”.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, he said: “Don’t blame me for telling the truth about Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Facing up to the facts about the mistakes of the past has to be the first step towards the peaceful future we all want to see.”
He added: “I am not and never have been an apologist or supporter of Putin. His invasion of Ukraine was immoral, outrageous and indefensible.”
But he added: “Back in 2014, when the EU first offered Ukraine an accession agreement, I said in a speech in the European Parliament that ‘there will be a war in Ukraine’. Why? Because the expansion of Nato and the European Union was giving Putin a pretext he would not ignore.
“If you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don’t be surprised if he responds. And if you have neither the means nor the political will to face him down, poking a bear is not good policy.”
Daily Mail
According to reports in the Mail on Sunday, President Zelensky’s office has suggested that Nigel Farage has been ‘infected by the virus of Putinism’ after he said the West was to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Farage has hit back strongly at the remarks, but as one person pointed out on social media, he may want to reconsider what he wears next time!
Related: Sue Gray ‘to shut Commons bars’ if Labour get elected – reports