UK's Farage accused of ‘Kremlin propaganda' after claiming the West provoked Ukraine invasion

• Populist British politician Nigel Farage doubled down on claims that the West provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine despite facing backlash from Westminster.
• The Reform UK leader and Brexit figurehead said Saturday that "if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don't be surprised if he responds."
• The insurgent politician's comments received strong criticism from leaders on both ends of the political spectrum ahead of the U.K.'s July 4 election.

LONDON — Populist British politician Nigel Farage doubled down on claims that the West provoked Russia's war in Ukraine despite facing backlash from Westminster in the crucial final weeks of the U.K. election campaign.

Writing in the Telegraph newspaper on Saturday, the Reform UK leader and Brexit figurehead said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2022 full-scale invasion was "immoral" but added that "if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don't be surprised if he responds."

He was defending comments made Friday in a BBC interview, in which he said that the eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union had given Putin a pretext to tell Russians "they're coming for us again" and to go to war.

"We've provoked this war. Of course it's his fault. He's used what we've done," Farage said Friday.

Clarifying his comments Saturday, Farage said he was not and never has been "an apologist or supporter of Putin," but claimed that he "saw the war coming" and that the West has "played into Putin's hands."

"As I have made clear on multiple occasions since then, if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don't be surprised if he responds. And if you have neither the means nor the political will to face him down, poking a bear is obviously not good foreign policy."

He also recalled comments made to the European Parliament in 2014 — shortly after Russia's annexation of Crimea — in which he questioned NATO's military exercises in Ukraine.

"Do we actually want to have a war with Putin? Because if we do, we are certainly going about it the right way," he said at the time.

Farage's remarks mirror those of close friend and ally former President Donald Trump, who on an episode of the "All In" podcast last week reiterated his position that NATO's military expansion was "provocative" to Russia, and that the war would not have happened under his leadership.

Sunak and Starmer push back

Reform UK is rapidly gaining popularity following Farage's return as leader last month ahead of the U.K.'s July 4 elections. The right-wing party has 18% of votes, just behind the incumbent Conservatives' 20%, according to YouGov polling conducted before Farage's comments. Labour is seen with a vast lead at 36%.

The insurgent politician's comments received strong criticism from leaders on both ends of the political spectrum, however.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday condemned the remarks as "completely wrong," adding that the position similarly "plays into Putin's hands."

"This kind of appeasement is dangerous for Britain's security, the security of our allies that rely on us, and only emboldens Putin further," he told reporters.

Labour leader Keir Starmer dubbed the comments "disgraceful" and said that Putin bears "full responsibility" for the invasion.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson also dismissed the remarks as "nauseating ahistorical drivel" and "Kremlin propaganda" in a post on X.

Political commentator Timothy Ash, meanwhile, discredited Farage's claim that NATO's 2014 Ukrainian presence had provoked Moscow, noting that support then for Kyiv's membership of the military alliance was "very low."

"Ukraine was not going to join NATO in 2014, or in 2022, and Moscow knew this. Putin just wanted to create some PR excuse to invade, and Farage is playing to Putin's narrative, a tool for Putin," Ash, who is an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, told CNBC via email Monday.

"Putin invaded Ukraine not because of EU or NATO enlargement but because of a policy of Russian enlargement — Greater Russia, and Putin's obsession with recreating the USSR, as he stated way back that the collapse of the USSR was the biggest mistake in the 20th century. This was all about Russian colonial ambition and enlargement," he added.

In a video post on X Saturday, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense said that NATO has previously made "significant efforts" to establish a strategic relationship with Russia, including on counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics initiatives.