Nigel Farage has labelled Vladimir Putin “a very bad dude” in an apparent bid to counter accusations regarding his trustworthiness on Britain’s national security.
The Reform UK leader also backed shooting down Russian jets entering Nato airspace and supported the use of frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine.
This declaration comes as his party climbs in the polls, prompting rivals to question his and Reform UK’s stance on Moscow.
Opponents have highlighted Mr Farage’s previous admission of admiring the Russian president “as an operator, but not as a human being,” to suggest weakness towards Russia.
But seeking to toughen his line on Thursday, he told Bloomberg’s The Mishal Husain Show: “Clearly, Putin is not a rational man.
“The idea that I’m soft on this is just nonsense.”
He also said: “Obviously, Putin is a very bad dude.
“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.”
Reform has come under pressure after Nathan Gill, the party’s former leader in Wales, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for making pro-Russian statements while he was a member of the European Parliament.
“We had a bad apple in this bloke? Yes,” Mr Farage said, adding: “I believe, 100%, with all my heart, there’s nobody else.”
Asked what he would do if Russian jets crossed into allied airspace, Mr Farage said: “Gotta shoot them down.”
He said frozen Russian assets should be used to provide loans for Ukraine “if they’re there through illegal means”.
The Clacton MP said that, in the event of a ceasefire, he could support the presence of British troops in Ukraine as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force if he became prime minister.
It comes after Defence Secretary John Healey warned last month that Mr Farage could not be trusted with Britain’s national security, accusing him and his party of “looking up to” Mr Putin.
“I don’t think Nigel Farage or his party can be trusted with national security,” the Cabinet minister said.
