UK right-wing leader calls Putin 'a very bad dude'

Farage previously said he admired Putin, which has often led to criticism in the UK for being too soft on Russia, the country that launched a full-scale war against Ukraine.

"Clearly, Putin is not a rational man. The idea that I’m soft on this is just nonsense," Farage said.

He added that he had hoped US President Donald Trump would be able to influence the Russian leader.

"I was really hoping that Trump would bring Putin to heel, that some kind of compromise could be struck, as it’s just been recently struck with Gaza and Israel. Clearly, that is not going to happen," the politician emphasized.

When asked what he would do if Russian aircraft entered allied airspace, Farage replied, "Gotta shoot them down."

He also said frozen Russian assets should be used to provide loans to Ukraine "if they’re there through illegal means."

The British populist leader added that if a ceasefire were achieved, he could support the presence of British troops in Ukraine as part of a UN peacekeeping mission, if he were to become prime minister.

What Farage said about Ukraine

Earlier, it was reported that Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, unexpectedly voiced support for Ukraine’s membership in NATO.

In the past, Farage argued that NATO and the European Union had provoked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

Now, he says that bringing Kyiv closer to the West should be part of a long-term solution.

In May this year, during local elections in the UK, Nigel Farage's right-wing populist Reform UK party defeated the ruling Labour Party led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"That in turn means it is no longer fantasy politics to ask whether sooner or later Farage himself could end up as Britain’s Prime Minister," Politico noted.