Farage says Zelenskyy is not a dictator and Trump 'should not be taken literally'
Nigel Farage has said Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not a dictator and everything Donald Trump says should be taken "truthfully not literally".
The Reform UK leader, who counts the US president as a close friend, 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.
Asked by Sky News' US correspondent James Matthews if he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is a dictator, Mr Farage said: "No don't be ridiculous."
He added: "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".
1:28
Mr Farage told GB News earlier on Thursday he did not think Mr Zelenskyy is a dictator but called on him 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.
Mr Farage said he had previously not made a comment on Mr Trump's attack because he had been flying to the US and it had then been nighttime.
He also called the UK and Europe "irrelevant" in peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, and said he would "suggest Europe and the UK government pay very serious attention to Donald Trump".
3:17
US and Russian officials have been in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss a possible peace deal, but neither Ukraine or any European representatives were there.
This sparked an emergency meeting of European leaders in France earlier this week.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey accused Mr Farage of sounding "like a spokesman for Trump".
He posted on X: "So Nigel Farage has chosen to explain away Trump's outrageous remarks about President Zelensky instead of doing the right thing and condemning them. Deeply disappointing but not at all surprising.
"He sounds like a spokesman for Trump. He certainly doesn't speak for Britain."
Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge also called out Mr Farage's comments.
He wrote on X: "Why does Farage think Ukraine should have a 'timetable' for elections? They're not going through local govt reform - they're in an existential war & don't know when it will end. And does he think Putin should have a timetable for free & fair elections? He actually is a dictator."
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