Nigel Farage is 'cuddling up to the Kremlin', says ex-Nato boss amid claims West provoked Russia into invading Ukraine
25 June 2024, 08:52
Nigel Farage is 'cuddling up to the Kremlin', an ex-Nato boss has said amid claims the West provoked Russia into invading Ukraine.
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Speaking to LBC's Tom Swarbrick, former Nato Secretary General Lord George Robertson said it is "total nonsense" that the West provoked Russia into invading Ukraine.
It comes after Mr Farage said that "of course" Vladimir Putin is at fault for his country's war with Kyiv.
But he maintained that the "ever-eastward expansion" of Nato and the European Union had given the Kremlin "an excuse" to move troops across the border.
When asked to what extent he believe the West provoked Russia into invading Ukraine, Lord Robertson said: “That is total nonsense, and sort of typical of the far right, of which Farage is part, cuddling up to the Kremlin with their propaganda.”
He added: "Nigel Farage today has shown his real colours by this sort of, you know, appeasement… One of my successors at Nato… crisply summed it up – if Russia stops fighting, there will be peace.
"If Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no Ukraine. That sums it up and I think Nigel Farage should listen to that."
Lord Robertson disputes Farage's claims on Ukraine war
Mr Farage has also faced criticism from former PM Boris Johnson, who accused him of spreading 'Kremlin Propaganda'.
The Reform UK leader said he was not an "apologist" for the Russian president 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".
Mr Johnson accused him of "ahistorical drivel".
"Nobody provoked Putin. Nobody 'poked the bear with a stick'," he said.
"The people of Ukraine voted overwhelmingly in 1991 to be a sovereign and independent country.
"They were perfectly entitled to seek both Nato and EU membership. There is only one person responsible for Russian aggression against Ukraine - both in 2014 and 2022 - and that is Putin.
"To try to spread the blame is morally repugnant and parroting Putin's lies."
The President of Finland also dismissed the claims, saying he "absolutely does not" agree with the comments.
"With all due respect to Mr Nigel Farage, I don’t agree with many things that he usually says," he added.
