Britain’s far-right Reform UK party, whose leader Nigel Farage admired Vladimir Putin, is actively trying to shake off its image as a party sympathetic to the Russian dictator. She is trying to convince of this not only British voters, who continue to actively support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, but also European politicians. A similar situation is observed among the French extreme right: before the war in Ukraine, Putin actively supported Marine Le Pen and her party, but the new generation of the National Assembly does not want to be associated with him.
Reform UK has a good chance of winning the election, given the collapse of the Conservative Party and the crisis in the Labor Party, and has begun to distance itself from Putin, writes A politician. Over the past six months, its representatives have repeatedly met with European diplomats, convincing them that Reform UK supports Ukraine and its sovereignty, as well as NATO in countering Russian aggression, said five people familiar with the discussions. The party has also organized a meeting with Ukrainian representatives to express support for its military efforts, according to two participants in the talks.
Farage himself in October 2025 called Putin “a very bad man”, said that Russian planes should be shot down in NATO airspace and supported the use of frozen Russian assets for the needs of Ukraine. His deputy, Richard Tice, described “the monstrous tyranny of that dastardly villain Putin”.
In 2014, when Putin annexed Crimea, Farage said he “admired” him. In 2024, the politician whose campaign contributed significantly to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union said the West, by expanding NATO and the EU, had “provoked” Putin to invade Ukraine. This gave Putin “an excuse” to start the war, Farage said, adding that the Kremlin leader himself was “of course” to blame for it.
Last week, Reform UK tried to turn a page from its history, which seriously tarnished its image. She appointed a new head of her Wales office after the previous one, Nathan Gill, was jailed for more than 10 years for accepting bribes from Russia.
“Yes, Farage has a problem with Russia”says Tim Montgomery, a long-time Conservative Party campaigner who defected to Reform UK in 2024. He considers this perception of Farage a “big lie” but admits “it has seeped into people’s minds”.
European diplomats question the sincerity of Reform UK leaders. According to three senior officials from eastern European countries, the party’s position worries them not because Reform UK might support Putin’s Russia, but because that position remains unclear. One of them says: “Most political parties, with the exception of Reform UK, have a very clear position. And Reform UK has not yet made very strong statements of support… to be honest, we’re not entirely clear on what their position is on Ukraine.”
The French far-right has also sought to disavow its ties to Putin’s Russia. At least the younger generation of politicians associated with 30-year-old National Assembly leader Jordan Bardella do. According to polls, he is a potential winner of the 2027 French presidential election.
Longtime party leader Marine Le Pen, who was found guilty of misusing EU funds during her tenure in the European Parliament, is barred from running. She contested the court’s decision in the appeals court, but Bardella, according to polls, enjoys more support than her.
According to six members of the National Assembly close to party leaders who spoke to Politico, Bardella’s supporters consider Russia a “threat” to France and Europe. The traditional wing, made up of older party members, shares the Kremlin’s position that NATO’s eastward expansion is the cause of the war in Ukraine.
According to a French official directly involved in the country’s military policy, between the elders and Bardela’s “pro-Ukrainian, pro-Western faction” there is a large group that does not think much about these issues – “they are mostly pro-Russian, but they understand that this is not very good from an electoral point of view”.
For the leadership of the National Assembly, cutting ties with Putin became a key element of their strategy to enter the political mainstream: the aim was to attract a wider voter base and strengthen the party’s authority. As early as 2024, Bardella supported arms supplies to Ukraine.
And in December last year he told the BBC: “Both I and the National Assembly have unequivocally condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine. I believe that today Russia represents a multifaceted threat to French and European interests.”
date:2026-02-09 14:34:00
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