London (Parliament News) – Nigel Farage urged Volodymyr Zelenskiy to seek a truce with Russia, warning that continued conflict could decimate Ukraine’s young men. Farage’s comments drew criticism for perceived pro-Russia sentiments.
Should Zelenskiy Seek a Truce with Russia Now?
Nigel Farage has suggested Volodymyr Zelenskiy to seek a truce deal with Russia, “otherwise there will be no young men left in Ukraine”. The Reform UK leader, who has been blamed for suggesting the West prompted Russian aggression against Ukraine, stated it was time for the Ukrainian president to rethink his plan of reclaiming all territory lost to Vladimir Putin’s aggression, as such a mission was going to be “incredibly difficult”.
Farage made his latest comments on the Ukraine war while speaking to journalists from the Times and the Daily Mail on a trip to the Channel to emphasise the number of small boat crossings. It came after another Reform UK politician, Julian Malins, the candidate for Salisbury, was booed for suggesting to local voters that Putin “seemed very good”.
Malins had been questioned whether Reform UK would continue to sustain Ukraine, as Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson have accomplished, with the latter holding a connection with Zelenskiy even after being forced out of No 10.
“War is not about, as it were, punishing or in some way running over thousands of young men in tanks and blowing them up because one person takes points of view which you disagree with,” Malins said. “I have met Putin and had a 10-minute chat with him and he seemed very good. He is not the Austrian gentleman with a moustache come alive again.”
The constituency Malin desires to represent is where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were embittered with novichok. Skripal and his daughter endured the attack but at the end of June 2018 a Wiltshire woman, Dawn Sturgess, and her partner, Charlie Rowley, were antagonised in Amesbury, eight miles north of Salisbury. Sturgess, 44, died on 8 July that year.
Is Farage Supporting Russia by Opposing Ukraine?
While Farage has emphasised he dislikes Putin and opposes the invasion of Ukraine, he has been criticised for conveying a narrative seen as supportive of the Russian president. He has also criticised Johnson for abandoning the prospect of a peace deal.
Are Farage’s Comments on the Ukraine War Controversial?
Speaking at a rally in Devon, Farage stated: “Somehow, I am made out to be a Putin apologist, which of course I’m not. What he’s done in Ukraine is offensive. “His Majesty’s Daily Mail, who have determined that I am one of the worst people that’s ever been born, not for the first time, just because I got up over 10 years ago and expressed that I felt the eastward growth of NATO and the European Union would be operated by a dangerous dictator as a reason to go to war.
“In Ukraine, I declared, don’t poke the Russian bear with a rod because if you do you will get a very predictable result.”