Rattled Nigel Farage has humorously suggested that the Queen might have leaned towards being a ‘Putin sympathizer’ while facing scrutiny over his admiration for the Russian leader.
Keir Starmer has called for an inquiry into potential connections between Reform UK and Russia after the party’s former leader in Wales was sentenced to over ten years in prison for accepting bribes to promote pro-Russian propaganda.
Nathan Gill was handed a 10-and-a-half-year sentence for receiving £40,000 to advocate pro-Russian views in the European Parliament.
In response to inquiries about the Prime Minister’s remarks and his positive comments about Vladimir Putin, Mr. Farage drew a peculiar parallel with the late Queen.
He remarked, “The Putin allegations are baseless. Just because I expressed admiration for him as a political figure in 2013, but disliked him as a person, prior to the Ukrainian conflict, does not make me a Putin supporter. Moreover, the Queen met Putin after my statement. If she was sympathetic to Putin, perhaps the Prime Minister should be asked, not me.”
Queen Elizabeth II has met with President Putin on multiple occasions as part of her official duties. Their first meeting occurred in 2000 during Putin’s inaugural visit to the UK as Russia’s president, where she hosted him for a private audience at Windsor Castle.
Mr. Farage also indicated that Mr. Gill was an isolated case and suggested that the issue was more tied to UKIP than Reform UK.
Regarding the lingering controversy from his 2014 comments praising Putin as the world leader he admired most, Mr. Farage clarified that he respected Putin as a strategist but not as a person. He had also criticized the EU for provoking Russia over Ukraine and had made numerous appearances on Russia Today between 2010 and 2014.
In a recent interview, the Reform leader faced criticism for downplaying Ukraine’s potential for victory and suggesting that Western involvement was merely prolonging a standoff.