Nigel Farage said he ‘understood’ why ‘rational’ Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea
In newly unearthed comments, the Reform leader said he understood why Putin annexed Crimea and parts of Donbas
Nigel Farage previously described President Vladimir Putin as a “rational player” and said he understood why he had annexed Crimea and territories in the Donbas.
In newly unearthed comments from 2022, the Reform leader backed Putin’s invasion of Crimea and areas in Donbas, saying they were “Russian speaking communities” and “would rather be part of a greater Russia than part of somewhere else”.
As reported by The Times, Farage also described Putin as having been a “rational player” when he waged war against Georgia in 2008.
In the days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Farage said: “I’d always thought Putin to be a rational player and I think everything we’ve seen since 2008, whether we’re talking about Georgia, whether we’re talking about the Crimea, whether we’re talking about the initial push into the Donbas region, I understood why he was doing it.”
Farage added: “He was doing it because they were Russian-speaking communities who in many ways would rather be part of a greater Russia than part of somewhere else. I’m not justifying it, I’m explaining it.
“I didn’t for one moment think he would launch an all-out assault on Kyiv and western Ukraine. He’s done it; it makes me question now whether we’re dealing with a rational actor.”
Farage made the comments in a YouTube video called “What does the war in Ukraine mean for Bitcoin?”.
In September, The Independent found footage of Farage admitting that he knew Russians used cryptocurrency to cheat Ukraine war sanctions, but invested in the sector anyway.
Speaking to financial firm Southbank Investment Research in 2022, Farage credited Russian sanction busting investment for a 15% spike in crypto values.
Farage now says he doesn’t stand by his comments about Putin being a “rational leader”.
He told The Times: “I think Putin has lost all rationality and poses a great danger to the world. Ukraine has my full support.”
In 2008, MEPs from UKIP, his former party, opposed a European parliament resolution condemning Putin’s invasion of Georgia.
In a 2014 interview with GQ, Farage said Putin was the world leader he most “admired”.
Farage’s recently unearthed comments will raise further concerns about his apparent sympathy for Putin.
They also come amid increased scrutiny over Reform’s links to Russia, after former Reform in Wales leader, Nathan Gill, was imprisoned for taking a Russian bribe last November.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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