LONDON — Vladimir Putin is getting “far too much” from U.S.-led negotiations to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, Donald Trump’s British ally Nigel Farage warned Friday.
The Reform UK leader — who has previously lavished praise on Trump — warned that the final outcome of talks could not be a victory for the Russian president.
“It’s quite right to aim for peace, but we can’t have a peace that turns Putin into a winner,” Farage told the BBC. And he said of Trump: “I would not be 100 percent with where his team is right now, absolutely not.”
The comments are striking given Farage’s long support of the U.S. president. He attended Trump’s inauguration, has appeared at Trump rallies — and even received a fawning 60th birthday message from the top U.S. Republican.
But Farage faces his own domestic pressure over Ukraine, with the governing Labour Party trying to paint a leader who has previously argued that NATO and the European Union provoked Putin into his invasion as soft on Russia.
Since entering office in January, Trump’s administration has ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine, downplayed the prospect of an American-backed peacekeeping force on the ground and suggested Ukraine will not regain territory taken by Russia.
“We want a peace deal,” Farage said. “Surely, everybody wants a peace deal, but it needs to be equitable. Right at the moment, it appears Russia is getting far too much.”
Pushed explicitly on whether Trump was giving Putin too much ground, the Reform UK leader concurred: “At the moment, that’s the way it looks. Now, there may be things going on behind the scenes on the Russian side that we don’t know, but at the moment, that’s the worry.”
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