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LONDON — Nigel Farage said Thursday that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “not a dictator,” in a sign of disagreement with his close ally Donald Trump.
The U.S. president said Wednesday that Ukrainian leader Zelenskyy was a “dictator without elections” who duped the U.S. into supporting Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale military invasion.
Asked about Trump’s comments, right-wing Reform UK leader Farage stressed Zelenskyy was democratically elected — but should go to the polls soon.
“Let’s be clear, Zelenskyy is not a dictator but it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections,” Farage told conservative channel GB News.
Farage spoke from Washington, D.C., where he’ll be talking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which runs until Saturday.
Pressed on Trump’s remarks, Farage said: “You should always take everything Donald Trump says seriously. You shouldn’t always take things that Donald Trump says absolutely literally.”
He citied the “bad blood” between Trump and Ukraine over the U.S. president’s first impeachment in late 2019. The House of Representatives impeached Trump for allegedly withholding U.S. military aid from Ukraine to pressure its leaders to investigate his Democratic rivals, including Joe Biden who ultimately won the 2020 U.S. election. The Senate eventually acquitted Trump.
Farage did not break entirely with Trump, noting that the U.K. held the 1945 general election during World War II as Britain was still at war with Japan: “No bombs had been dropped. The nuclear bomb had not been dropped. There were British soldiers dying in large numbers every single day in Japanese camps.”
He added: “I’m not suggesting Ukraine has an election tomorrow, but once we see the shape of a peace deal, then of course, there should be an election.”
The Reform UK leader has taken a skeptical approach to Britain’s Tory and then Labour governments backing Ukraine for as long as it took to beat Russia. He has argued the war needs “concessions on both sides,” dismissed the idea of Ukraine winning the conflict as “for the birds” and questioned Britain’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire its long-range missiles inside Russia.
However, Farage — who won election to the U.K. parliament last July for the first time — said Ukraine should be allowed to join NATO, putting him at odds with Trump.
