Nigel Farage has doubled down on his comments that the west “provoked” Vladimir Putin into ordering his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Reform UK leader, writing in a column piece for The Telegraph, wrote that he could not be “blamed for telling the truth about Putin’s war”.
“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,” he wrote.
The Downing Street hopeful declined, however, to offer any alternative to the current backing of Ukraine and the offer of Nato and European Union membership.
British figures from across the political spectrum criticised Mr Farage’s original comments. Prime minister Rishi Sunak said the Reform leader was “playing into Putin’s hands”, while Sir Keir Stamer said it is “really clear that Russia is the aggressor” in the war on Ukraine.
Ben Wallace, the former defence minister and well-known advocate for Ukraine, described Mr Farage as a “pub bore”.
