Nigel Farage has said the EU and Nato “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by expanding eastwards, as the Reform UK leader was challenged over a series of policies and beliefs in a sometimes combative TV interview.
Speaking to BBC’s Panorama on Friday evening, Farage also said Brexit would have benefited the UK economically if he had been running the country, and that many of the Reform candidates criticised for saying offensive things had been “stitched up in the most extraordinary way”.
Challenged on his beliefs over the invasion of Ukraine, and his stated admiration for Vladimir Putin, Farage said he disliked the Russian president personally but “admired him as a political operator” because of the extent of his control over Russia.
This makes little sense. Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014 by taking over Crimea. So they have been provoked for a decade now? People can find reasons to do anything they want and cast blame on anyone they choose but I stand by a very simple premise. Who attacked who first. Not in the 1800’s but in the most recent conflict. It has always been Russia being the aggressor, not by policy and politics but by force of hand. If by having a free country decide to join NATO for protection is provocative then so be it. How anyone could think that Farage is a reasonable man is beyond me.
By the logic of Nigel Farage you could say that Russia provoked NATO by moving West. After all that is why more countries are joining NATO.
Backyard politics, as in The Monroe Doctrine, was the accepted standard for decades. Russia was quickly stopped during the Cuban missile crisis. NATO broke that standard by extending itself into Russia’s backyard.
That is no longer the issue. Now the issue is diplomacy without backyard politics. By the looks of it, Russia simply does not have the strength to enforce it like America had under Kennedy. The new game for the West is to crush Russia and hope like hell they don’t go nuclear.
Yep, that’s Putin’s talking point and it is stupid. The first applicants to NATO were all countries where the Soviet Union had either occupied or intervened militarily, namely Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Those countries wanted to join NATO because they know what it is like when the Russians come to town.
Putin has been fighting wars of expansion since he took office. Chechnya (round II), Dagestan, South Ossetia, Crimea, Donbas, and now the rest of Ukraine. Maybe a few others I forgot about. Bottom line is that for countries in that part of the world, if you aren’t an ally of Russia or a member of NATO, Putin has an invasion plan with your name on it.
For decades Sweden and Finland didn’t want to join NATO for fear of being embroiled in a conflict with next-door Russia. Now they have both joined NATO for fear of next-door Russia coming after them next.
I’m very disappointed in how our government has been puzzy-footing around. Ukraine should have had all the weapons systems it is getting now on Day One, and at least triple the amounts.
Putin has said in plain language he wants to reconstitute the Russian empire. He’s not going to suddenly decide to be reasonable at some point. Nigel Farage is a damn fool.
A great idea. Skip the middle and ending bits and get right to executing Putin (you know, what happened to the Czar and his family in 1917). Problem sort-of solved.