Nigel Farage has said Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not a dictator and everything Donald Trump says should be taken “truthfully not literally”.
Speaking to Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews, the Reform UK leader also said he did not think Ukraine started the war with Russia and claimed Mr Trump was talking about “causal factors” when he suggested as such.
Mr Trump has called Mr Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” and told him “you should have never started it [the conflict]”, after the Ukrainian president complained of being left out of peace talks between Washington and Moscow.
Mr Farage, who counts the US president as a close friend, was asked whether he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is a dictator.
“No don’t be ridiculous,” he replied.
“If that’s what he [Donald Trump] thinks, that’s what he thinks. Take everything Trump says truthfully, but not literally.”
The Clacton MP went on to claim Mr Trump “doesn’t literally say Ukraine started the war” and is focused on bringing peace.
It was put to him that he did say that, and Mr Farage said: “Okay, he did. If you’re happy.”
He added: “Putin started the war. We all know that. What he’s talking about are the causal factors that go back for years.”
Asked why we should not take Mr Trump at his word, given he has done everything he said he would upon taking office, Mr Farage said: “Look, he promised a negotiation. He promised he’d talk to Putin. And he is. This is progress.
“We may not at the moment like how it looks, but we haven’t seen the final shape of the deal.”
Mr Farage was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, after being criticised for being silent on Mr Trump’s attacks on the Ukrainian president over the past two days.
Other party leaders have strongly backed the Mr Zelenskyy, with Sir Keir Starmer phoning him to voice his support, telling him it was “perfectly reasonable” for Ukraine to “suspend elections during wartime as the UK did during World War Two”.
Mr Farage also called on President Zelenskyy to set out a timeline for an election.
The Reform leader argued the UK had an election during the Second World War, in 1945, so Ukraine could also do so.
The war had come to an end in Europe in May 1945 and Winston Churchill reluctantly called an election two weeks later – after 10 years without a vote – due to pressure from his Labour coalition partners.
However, Allied troops were still fighting in the Pacific, with VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) not taking place until August that year.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge told Sky News’ Politics Hub programme it was “incredibly trite” of the Reform UK leader to call for President Zelenskyy to hold elections.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge, he added: “Winston Churchill was not a dictator, but he didn’t hold elections during the war because we had a war on.
“The idea the priority for Zelenskyy should be elections is crazy.
“He is under existential attack day and night – we have to stand by them.”
