The West “provoked” the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Nigel Farage has said. The Telegraph has more.
The leader of Reform U.K. said that the expansion of Nato and the European Union gave Vladimir Putin “an excuse” to go to war with Ukraine.
In an interview with BBC Panorama, Mr. Farage said: “I stood up in the European Parliament in 2014 and I said, and I quote, ‘there will be a war in Ukraine’. Why did I say that? It was obvious to me that the ever-eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union was giving this man a reason to [turn to] his Russian people to say, ‘They’re coming for us again’, and to go to war.”
He added: “Hang on a second, we provoked this war. It’s – you know, of course it’s his fault, he’s used what we’ve done as an excuse.”
Asked by Nick Robinson if he meant that “we provoked the invasion of Ukraine”, he replied: “Yes.”
Questioned about previous comments that he “admired” Putin, Mr. Farage clarified that he admired him as “a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia”.
Hmm, not sure Putin’s brutal and dishonest methods of “taking control of Russia” are something to “admire”, Nigel. Might want to rethink that one.
What do you think – did the West “provoke” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or is that just playing into Putin’s hands?
Discussion
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Angela Merkel (and I also believe Sarkosy) admitted the entire reason for the Minsk Accords was to buy time to arm and prepare Ukraine to take on Russia as a NATO/West Proxy.
The Maidan uprising was a West sponsored coup against a democratically elected (more so than Biden in 2020) Russian favouring leader Viktor Yanukovych.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall, Russia (no longer the Soviet Union/USSR) was assured that NATO had no intention of expanding Eastward. The Warsaw Pact was dismantled and NATO should have done the same.
Ukraine joining NATO was a red line too far for Russia, plus the Eastern Donbas region, which is ethnically Russian was being constantly bombed and over 10,000 Donbas/Russian citizens had been killed prior to the so-called Russian “Invasion”, which was in reality a limited Liberation of the Donbas.
NATO and the West have since used weapons, money and propaganda to escalate the limited conflict, using Ukrainian citizens as cannon fodder.
Zelensky is a 2 bit actor war criminal, he seems to not care how many Ukrainians will die in a conflict they can’t win, but could escalate to a Nuclear WW3 – and no-one seems… Read more »
Farage should not have said that the West ‘provoked’ Russia to invade Ukraine. He’s meant to be a grown-up politician. He should have known full well that his words will be seized on by Russia to justify even more taking of land from their former empire.
Only a fool or someone who is willfully blind believes that Russia wasn’t looking for an excuse, any excuse, to invade Ukraine.
All credit to TDS for sticking to their guns on this one.
No secrets here – just a complete failure by the mainstream and the Daily Sceptic to listen to people such as Professor Jeffrey Sachs who have stated the FACTS until they are blue in the face! The United States has directly brought about regime change, civil war and finally East-West conflict through its ruthless and selfish foreign policy- policy which routinely aims to destabilise and take control of client states.The West naively assumes it has the moral high ground and world-wide approval in this, whereas the ‘rest of the world’ basically supports Russia. having seen through the immoral way in which the United States acts.
It was a tad provocative taking Crimea. Don’t suppose Putin wanted a naval base on the Black sea or anything
Russia and the Soviet Union had had a naval base on the Black Sea for centuries. It was only when their ability to continue to do so was threatened, following the US-inspired and co-ordinated coup in 2014, that they annexed Crimea. It is ludicrous to assume they would have simply sat back following the coup and not taken steps to safeguard their naval base.
And when you say they “took Crimea”, the reality is that many ethnic Russians or Russian sympathisers within the Ukraine military in Crimea simply defected to Russia following the coup, seizing control of government buildings, airports and the naval operations.
I find it frustrating that this is portrayed in such a binary, black and white way. Holding the opinions that NATO provoked the conflict AND Putin is grabbing territory in the face of a weak West doesn’t seem to me to be an unreasonable position.
NATO & EU flirted with Ukraine, which led to the installing of a pro western government in Ukraine, which led to the ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine being persecuted, which led to Putin’s excuse for an invasion.
He wasn’t looking for an excuse – the persecution of ethnic Russians and the provocative language around inviting Ukraine into NATO (in Feb 2022 by Kamala Harris, but many times earlier and since) virtually forced his hand (and that of all the governing elite in Moscow). He would much rather Ukraine had declared neutrality and respected the Minsk Accords of 2014, under which eastern Ukraine would have peace and a degree of autonomy.
One does not have to know anything about the political situation in the Ukraine to know who are the aggressors and law breakers. You just need to read about the history of the intelligence and military agression of the USA, Britain and the other Western countries since the 2nd world War seeking hegemony in the world. This should end any debate about what is going on here.
I came across this article yesterday and it conveyed a particular angle on the Ukraine situation. I’m not in a position to say whether it’s demonstrably correct or not so am unable to offer a view. However, it may be of interest to some.
‘In 2014, Ukraine faced a financial crisis and received two loan offers:
1) The World Bank (IMF): $15 billion with conditions:
a) End the ban on private sector land ownership.
b) Reduce pensions and fuel subsidies.
2) Russia: $15 billion without austerity and privatization requirements, just standard interest.
Then Ukrainian President Yanukovych opted for Russia’s offer. This angered Washington, who in response supported a coup that led to Yanukovych’s ousting.
The new puppet regime put in place immediately accepted the IMF loan, agreeing to the conditions of austerity and privatization. As a result, multinational consortia, including those with US capital, have acquired one-third of Ukraine’s farmland.
Such predatory ploys by the wealthy West are increasing.
Financial powers provide loans with high-interest rates, which leads to borrowers accumulating debt. When borrowers cannot repay these loans, they have to transfer real assets (like land or property) to the lenders, often based in Western countries.
It is financial warfare,… Read more »
Farage probably should have said ‘respect’ rather than ‘admire’.
It is clear that ‘the West’ provoked Russia. The fact that so many people, in Russia and the West, believe it proves it. The question is more whether the provocation was such that Russia/Putin was justified in the SMO.
Obviously, and sensibly, the West would rather get Ukraine on their side rather than Russia’s. All good standard geopolitics. My problem is that we miscalculated Russian resolve and are now willing to sacrifice Ukraine and its people to avoid Elite embarrassment and in a, failing, attempt to weaken Russia. In fact it is both strengthening Russia and, even more seriously, the Sino-Russo axis.
We should instead have been looking to ensure Russia would join the West against separate Sino and Islamist plans for World domination.
It has been a catastrophic disaster of Western neocons.
Agreed – one of the greatest tragedies since the collapse of the USSR was the failure to embrace and welcome Russia into the commonwealth of nations. Instead, the West chose to humiliate Russia and, for military-industrial complex reasons (of course) preferred to have Russia portrayed as “the enemy” and an ongoing threat.
I believe Putin warned the West to back off any further expansion East. I wrote a short article that incorporated this theme:
https://open.substack.com/pub/sandrews/p/in-our-democratic-world-some-narratives?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=16e1vo
An interesting newsletter. You write the famous phrase “Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely” but I do not believe that applies particularly to Putin. He is entering his 25th year of power and has the unprecedented support of his people, simply because he is highly intelligent and politically amazingly competent. Listen to his speeches (all documented on http://en.kremlin.ru/ ). Learn and appreciate the work of the Russian Foreign Ministry around the world: https://mid.ru/en/. Everything is exceedingly open and published in several languages.
Putin’s whole sense of purpose is that Russia has a geographically and historically important role to play in today’s world and that he will do everything in his power to protect and assist his people and their country, particularly against our western politicians who apparently still live and base their decisions as though we continue in a cold war with the Soviet Union. Those days are over and Russia wanted desperately to be accepted by the west but the west wanted only to control and exploit Russia. So Russia had no choice but to turn to the east.
You mention the Skripals and Novichok but are possibly unaware that there were reports that Porton Down was playing with… Read more »
You can admire someone for their skill in leadership without necessarily agreeing with their actions or views. What’s wrong with that? As usual the luvvies can’t take the truth! Putin is impressive.
There is one overlooked aspect to this (in my opinion). Putin had been becoming steadily more unpopular during 2013. Whatever you may think of his actions, Putin is a clever operator. Putin happily used Europe’s troop movements towards the Eastern border as an excuse to move into Crimea, thus deflecting attention away from unrest inside Russia. The oldest trick in the book.
Following the annexation of Crimea his popularity rose signifcantly amongst the Russian populace. We in the West were the useful idiots that provided Putin with the fuel for his actions.
My favourite article from this period (1st July 2013) is in The Grauniad (thanks to a comment in the Daily Telegraph). Headline:
“EU should extend further into former Soviet Union, says David Cameron. Speaking in Kazakhstan, British PM says European Union should stretch from the Atlantic to the Urals.”
Says it all really.
He pretty much had to annex Crimea following the overthrow of the Russia-friendly Yanukovich government and replacement with a US-friendly one, since that is where the Russian naval fleet operations were (and are) based.
I guarantee all the downticks pay their BBC licence
Farage is absolutely spot on. The West were goading Putin for years and continue to do so. Apparently Will if you ask expats they are perfectly happy living and working in Russia. We’re just being fed government propaganda via the MSM over here and frankly I’m getting fed up with it.
Colonel Macgregor, retired U.S. army. Please listen to his full explanation of President Putin’s position. All on twitter/X. Farage is a puppet, not the sharpest pencil in the box.
F in Hell ! Way More comments than usual ! He certainly touches nerves does Nigel ! Hopefully he’s Real ! He certainly speaks the same truths as the voices in my Head tell me ! He is 100% Spot on ! Legend !
Same old, same old. Farage makes a rather realistic observation that has previously been made by many other honest observers and the press and commentators get their knickers in a twist trying to make out that the statement is beyond the pale. He’s so clearly a racist and warmonger, it turns you into a stupid person just looking at him.
Nigel is correct – other people have explain in their comments in great detail how and why. I would just add that this war was engineered/timed specifically to keep supplying the military industrial complex with funds, directly after the withdrawal from Afghanistan (and the loss of spending). The equipment left behind in Afghanistan was portrayed as a disaster in the media…not for the manufactures is wasn’t, they still got paid by the tax payer, most of whom hate war. After Ukraine is destroyed and no longer has the manpower to fight on, which is what will happen, there will be a peace deal. The US and its corrupt partners (who care little for the people of the world) are already setting up the next war, in Iran, and then probably with China over Taiwan, after that. It’s all deeply depressing that peoples lives/livelihoods can be destroyed without conscience, to make a few bucks (billions actually!).
And who will make millions from the rebuilding of Ukraine, also funded by western taxpayers?
The ‘Of course I condemn the Russian Federation for invading Ukraine but it was entirely provoked into doing so, and as such acted as I predicted it would.”
line is exactly the same as
“Of course I condemn the stalker for beating his victim to death with a hammer, but it was her non-compliant behaviour which provoked him into carrying this out – just as I warned her about and advised complete submission years before the actual murder took place.”
What is genuinely astonishing is this attempted combination of a generally libertarian / anti-state / pro-democracy / individualistic and morality based ideology (ie that of Reform) with support (or at least ‘understanding’) for one of the most tyrannical, mass murderous, fascistic and imperial-expansionist programmes since the 1930s and 40s Hitlerian one.
Indeed in some ways more so – the Nazi government ‘only’ threatened to annihilate the entire Jewish population of Europe if another major war broke out (ie the one that they themselves instigated via the Anschluss / invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland etc, and a threat that they came tragically close to carrying out) whereas the Putin regime – both directly and via its controlled media mouthpieces such as… Read more »
Farage is not endorsing Putin’s Ukraine war, he is merely analysing the situation truthfully. He sees as many do that this is not about winning or losing for either side but about ending the war using management, yes management of the situation so that both sides can emerge from the disaster with some dignity and to the satisfaction of the ethnic populations of Ukraine. Demonisation of Putin is unhelpful to such a process.
You are about to get your asses kicked big time. I would admire that if it was acknowledged and understood. But you are going to get your asses kicked without knowing. You are revealing how pathetic you are. Part of me hoped that the Russians would deal with you with complete ruthlessness. You are obviously a waste of space on every level.
Yes we are surrounded by water. Yes that gives us a massive protection but this is not an absolute protection. Other contries have missiles that can go over water and can travel for a long time. We are not some sceptred isle in this age. Missiles don’t care hopw far they travel or if they have to go over water. I am surprised that I have to tell people about his.
If we can break the spell around Dealey Plaza then that could open up a lot of things not least the most top secret file since 1947 which is information collected on cryptoterrrestrial technology. The alternative is that you have a breakaway civilisaton which is reverse engineering this technology and could well use it as a tool in our further enslavement. We have a duty and imperative to uncover this work. There has been a recent Pentagon release which admits that this force isn’t extra-terrestrial but is crypto-terrestrial and dwelling among us. That is a good place to start.
Yes.
Next point..?
Dealey plaza was just the overture. Like Dylan said, the killed him once they killed him twice. They killed him like a human sacrifice. Since that day we have been living under this evil. It was their way of intitiating us. Now we can ask, do we want to stay like that forever or do we want to break it I doubt that the JFK secrecy will be broken in the next twenty years because like Trump said, if you knew what was in the JFK assassination file then you wouldn’t release it.
I know it sounds great to people in certain countries, the idea of big war. At the time of the second Iraq invasion there was an upsurge in beer and Pizza sales because people would get together to watch the bombing on television in the same way that they might watch a football match. It is a very different thing when it affects your country. For one thing it can disrupt sleep patterns so that you find it very difficult to sleep at any time and this can affect your health and make you feel mentally and emotionally worse and then you might not be so enthusiatic about the beer and pizza.
Zelensky killed Gonzalo Lira for OPPOSING THE UKRAINE WAR.
Putin killed Alexei Navalny for OPPOSING THE UKRAINE WAR.
Both Lira and Navalny denounced the senseless slaughter of Ethnic European Men in the Meatgrinder War, exterminating Ukrainian men and Russian men.
Get it through your thick skulls, people: Putin & Zelensky are in cahoots, helping the Globalist Genocide against Ethnic Europeans = White Men.
The Meatgrinder War has no other purpose than to kill White Men.
I don’t think it’s exactly clear he murdered Navalny. He was being kept in very poor conditions in Siberia it’s perfectly possibly the awful conditions caused his heart attack.
According to Scott Ritter, Navalny was “a disgusting human being”. Scott gives a lengthy description of what sort of person Navalny was here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruv49PYBeds (from 01m40s to 24m20s) – and concludes Navalny died of natural causes.
Scott Ritter the Convicted Sex Offender, you mean?
Scott Ritter’s Arrests and Conviction for Sex Offenses
Ritter was the subject of two law enforcement sting operations in 2001. He was charged in June 2001 with trying to set up a meeting with an undercover police officer posing as a 16-year-old girl. He was charged with a misdemeanor crime of “attempted endangerment of the welfare of a child”. The charge was dismissed and the record was sealed after he completed six months of pre-trial probation.
Ritter was arrested again in November 2009 over communications with a police decoy he met on an Internet chat site. Police said that he exposed himself, via a web camera, after the officer repeatedly identified himself as a 15-year-old girl.
The next month, Ritter waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. Charges included “unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communications facility, corruption of minors, indecent exposure, possessing instruments of crime, criminal attempt and criminal solicitation”. Ritter rejected a plea bargain and was found guilty of all but the criminal attempt count in a courtroom in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 2011.
In October 2011, Ritter received a sentence of one… Read more »
No, I mean Scott Ritter, the guest of multiple internet forums, highly respected for his knowledge on Russia and his military expertise. I am not particularly interested in anyone’s sexual fantasies.
You mean Scott Ritter the Convicted Sex Offender, the “Disgusting Human Being” whom you recommended because he called the late great Alexei Navalny a “disgusting human being”?????
If you disagree with Scott Ritter’s description of Navalny, then please provide your alternative viewpoint, preferably with reference to Scott’s accusations made in the video. Thank you.
It’s perfectly clear. It wasn’t a heart attack, according to some of the prison staff, who said his guards were suddenly replaced by strangers, who gave him a “KGB Heart Punch”, after forcing him to stand outside in sub-zero temperatures for four hours.
The Anglo-Americans have pretty much admitted as much. The idea is to engage Russia and thereby gradually deplete it and thus starve it into submission. They talk about the economic disparity, so many of them mention that Russia has an economy which is only as big as a medium sized European country, how the soldiers are poorly trained and ill-equipped and of course to this day they harp on about the remarkbaly successful sanctions. Painted into a corner by their own chutzpah and irrational excuberance and now they look really scared. It is quite amusing but you never know with this lot what they will do in their desperation. The decision has already been made for all out war with Russia by August and Lebanon is likely to be hit in the next few days. I suppose they are amusing in the same way that Baghdad Bob was amusing.
After these truthful comments by Farage I am now more likely to vote Reform in the General Election.
As an old socialist I did vote tactically for UKIP before to force a referendum on UK membership of the EU to get us out.
A big vote now for Reform may stop our current weak politicians from dragging us into WWIII and a nuclear holocaust.
“Ukraine cannot be allowed to lose”
Apparently the mantra doing the rounds in the so civilised West.
So, troops in from NATO or whatever banking on successfully winning a game of chicken with by far the largest country in the world – and who are used to losing 30 million plus souls in a war threatening its very existence.
Theory doing the rounds is that TRPTB told Sunak to lose the election asasp because they were concerned that the rightwing tories might refuse the clarion call for war with Russia.
No such problem with the Blair controlled Starmer.
Real question is why is this happening?
Is it because TRPTB know their time is up – theyve grown rich on fractional banking which is effectively dead – and their only hope now is to rise from the ashes of chaos.
US hegemony, the unipolar world and the dollar are toast.
The multipolar world where every country is equal is on the way and TPTB in the West are clinging on to their so-called power for dear life.
I wonder what the late Alexei Navalny would say about this.
‘Murder is the only way he knows how to fight. He’ll go down in history as nothing but a poisoner. We all remember Alexander the Liberator [Alexander II] and Yaroslav the Wise [Yaroslav I]. Well, now we’ll have Vladimir the Underpants Poisoner.’
‘he’s busy holding meetings where he decides how to steal politicians’ underpants and smear them with chemical weapons to try to kill them.’
‘We’ve got 20 million people living below the poverty line. We have tens of millions of people living without the slightest prospects for the future. Life is bearable in Moscow, but travel 100 kilometers in any direction and everything’s a mess. Our whole country is living in this mess, without the slightest prospects, earning 20,000 rubles [$265] a month. And they’re all silent; they try to shut people up with these show trials. Lock up this one to scare millions more. One person takes to the streets and they lock up another five people to scare 15 million more.’
‘The explanation is one man’s hatred and fear — one man hiding in a bunker. I mortally offended him by surviving. I survived thanks to good people, thanks to pilots and doctors. And then I committed an even… Read more »
Gonzalo lira says hi but he can’t he was murdered by the Ukrainians
I wonder what Gonzalo Lira would say about this.
Classic normie comment.
Of course our lot aren’t brutal ever. Because.putting everyone under house arrest to stop the spread of a virus, then make their liberty conditional on medical treatment, that is no way brutal.
Invading Iraq and causing the death of hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. Not brutal. Nope.
Causing regime change and civil war.in Libya, that’s not brutal either.
Prosecuting postmasters for a crime you know they haven’t committed or can’t be bothered to check properly. That’s very civilised and not at all heavy handed.
Let’s see, Israel’s campaign against Hamas, which the DS seems to be fully in support of, is that not even a tiny bit brutal?
Poor. Very poor. I really expect something better and more nuanced from the DS.
Why not try and post something rather better yourself, then?
A list of non sequiturs doesn’t really move the discussion forward.
The non sequitur is bringing up whether Putin’s leadership is to be admired or not when discussing whether Russia was provoked into invading Ukraine. THAT is totally irrelevant.
But clearly is was brought up because it’s very hard to argue against Farage’s point. The DS did something that discredits it which is to go ad hominem when you don’t have a proper argument.
Sort of what you’ve done.
Two distinct matters in question. They are not linked:
‘not sure Putin’s brutal and dishonest methods of “taking control of Russia” are something to “admire’?
‘I participated in the investigation of my own poisoning, and we proved, in fact, that Putin, using Russia’s Federal Security Service, was responsible for this attempted murder.’
Alexey Navalny
Have you seen the video Navalny made? Well worth a view. But Putin definitely not admirable.
‘did the West “provoke” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’?
Clearly not since Kremlin documents set out Putin’s plan to set up a ‘Union State’ comprising Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltic States.
I am sorry that you believe criticism of your comment to be a personal attack on you. I can assure you that it was not so intended.
You are a Farage supporter. He believes in calling a spade a spade.
Your comment was weak; a series of ‘whatabouteries’ signifying nothing.
It is possible to make weak comments and be an outstanding individual.
Probably most outstanding individuals have made weak comments from time to time.
You may, for all I know, be an outstanding individual. I really have no idea, or interest.
Your comment was weak, not necessarily you……
Eh… no I’m not.
A good example of how you jump to all the wrong conclusions with unbounded, completely irrational confidence.
Semantics
‘It’s very hard to argue against Farage’s point’
You find it hard to argue against Farage’s point.
You may not think that makes you a Farage supporter, but, in the context of this particular discussion, like it or not, that is what you are.
So If I find something you and Putin agree on, then that makes you a Putin supporter. According to your logic. Brilliant.
In the context of a particular point, obviously, as I have already indicated, that, of course, would be so, and also the case with Farage, you.
But you will not find any point on which Putin and I agree because, unlike Farage, I understand that, for Putin, expediency is all. There is nothing in which he truly believes, except his own self interest.
To agree with him, ever, is simply to serve his purpose.
“you will not find any point Putin and I agree on” given he stopped the us funded Isis at the gates of Damascus I’m assuming you are for a Muslim caliphate across the middle east? Idiot!
Yet more unevidenced assertions.
Give yourself another pat on the back; your only motivation.
When you run out of arguments I see you got for ad hominem. Do you dispute Russian hardware stopped isus at Damascus? After the USA/UK had armed Isis to the teeth believing the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Personally I find it objectionable that my taxes are arming islamic extremists even if you don’t.
Here’s the Andrew Bridgen’s collection, detailing the humanity of the Establishment:
https://youtu.be/pidSG5nMkW8?si=aoAjBBtMYNCL73Nc
If one man can gather this amount of evidence, just imagine a what semi-functioning government and civil service could do.