It is “essential” Ukraine joins Nato, Nigel Farage has suggested, after previously coming under fire for claiming the West provoked Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
The Reform UK leader insisted he had “always thought that the eastwards encroachment of European Nato was a mistake”, as he spoke at a central London press conference.
The Clacton MP drew criticism during the general election campaign for claiming Western nations had “provoked” Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
But Mr Farage said he believed the war-torn nation should move further into the sphere of the West as part of a negotiated solution to the conflict.
He said: “I think where we are now… I don’t want to pre-judge how these negotiations go, but I would have thought that if we can get Putin into a place, and Zelensky into a place, where we have a reasonable negotiation, I would have thought looking ahead, it’s probably essential that Ukraine joins Nato.
“That’s going to need to be part of this negotiation. It’s a guess, but that’s where I see this going.”
Donald Trump – with whom Mr Farage claims close links – has signalled that he wants to see a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine.
The US president spoke with Mr Putin on Wednesday and made clear his desire to start peace talks immediately.
