We’re gonna go out on a limb and say it’s Putin, Nige
In a political take that absolutely nobody could have ever predicted, it would seem that Nigel Farage has blamed the EU and NATO for Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine – rather than, you know, Vladimir Putin.
Speaking on GB News following Russian forces crossing the Ukraine border and entering the rebel regions of the Donbas on Tuesday, Farage said the world not only needs to “learn the lessons of 2014” (when Russia annexed the Crimea), but that it was the EU “wanting to expand that lead directly to that revolution”.
As you can see in the clips below, the former UKIP and Brexit Party leader spends nearly three minutes making President Putin’s decision to, for all intents and purposes, invade a country all about the European Union – not to mention NATO, whom he also blamed for a “huge strategic error” carried out over the course of three decades.
Part 2. It’s well worth watching the whole thing to understand how the Kremlin is thinking but also to understand how Farage uses ‘NATO’ & the ‘EU’ interchangeably.
The mask is well & truly off. pic.twitter.com/TKZfrDFRZo
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) February 15, 2022
The 57-year-old goes on to question, “why poke the Russian bear with a stick?”, despite his surrounding comments suggesting that nothing the EU nor the North Atlantic Treaty did to manage relations with a “paranoid” Russia.
Farage then insists there is no possible strategic benefit or “asset” for Ukraine joining the alliance and that what Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU at large should do is reassure Putin their neighbours’ membership will not be accepted.
Regarding Europe specifically, Putin has already warned that it would be dragged into a military conflict should they decide to allow Ukraine to join NATO, after diplomatic discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron failed to find a resolution.
Meanwhile, more and more images of tanks and troops mobilising in the breakaway regions continue to surface online.
Tanks and military vehicles drive along streets in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, after Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions https://t.co/p640BOACJa 📷 Alexander Ermochenko pic.twitter.com/0k41UeDeUF
— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) February 22, 2022
Elsewhere, Putin himself has suggested that the Royal family want a war simply to distract attention from Prince Andrew’s high profile sexual assault case.
The likes of the UK and the US have already sent troops to nearby nations such as Estonia and Poland as military detachments are poised to respond should Moscow move on the capital Kyiv and bordering Belarus. However, so far, only economic sanctions have been imposed and many are criticising how punitive these measures really are:
Russian tanks invade Ukraine.
The UK's response? Sanctioning three guys and five banks. pic.twitter.com/rhwzs2X8wh
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) February 22, 2022
Related links:
- UEFA likely to strip Russia of Champions League final after Ukraine invasion
- Paying Nigel Farage on Cameo is more sinister than you think
- Mysterious “Z” appears on Russian tanks – and experts have no idea what they mean