Reform leader says UK doesn’t have the ‘manpower’ after PM signs declaration of intent with France and Kyiv
Nigel Farage says Britain doesn’t have the military resources to enter a military operation in Ukraine Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty
Senior Political Correspondent
07 January 2026
Nigel Farage has said he would vote against deploying boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a proposed ceasefire deal.
The Reform UK leader argued that Britain had “neither the manpower nor the equipment” to enter a military operation without a fixed timescale.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer signed a joint declaration with France and Ukraine for the “multinational force” to help uphold any peace agreement and prevent another Russian invasion.
Under the deal, Britain and France would set up military hubs in Ukraine to facilitate troop deployments if needed, while also helping with reconstruction efforts.
The plan has the support of the US, which, for the first time, offered a “backstop” to support European troops in the event of a future conflict with Russia.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir insisted that any military action would be signed off by MPs.
However, Mr Farage declared that he would vote against the proposals if they were put before the Commons.
There is a precedent for Parliament voting to block the UK from taking military action overseas. In 2013, Lord Cameron was forced to abandon plans for Britain to participate in military strikes against Syria after a defeat in the Commons, orchestrated by then Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Mr Farage told Times Radio: “I would vote against. We neither have the manpower nor the equipment to go into an operation that clearly has no ending timeline.”
He added: “If it was a sort of Korean-style UN where lots of countries were involved and we could rotate in and out, I might consider it then. But frankly, what you saw yesterday was Macron standing there with the British Prime Minister.
“Giorgia Meloni was outside having a cigarette, not getting involved. The German gave a speech and said nothing. The ‘coalition of the willing’ is just two countries.
“Frankly, what this would be is a modern-day British Army of the Rhine. When we did that, defence was five per cent of our national expenditure and we were there for 50 years.”
Responding to Mr Farage’s remarks, Labour attacked him as “Putin’s puppet” and accused him of not doing enough to back Ukraine.
A Labour spokesman said: “Nigel Farage’s equivocation on support for Ukraine is an insult to those who have fought to defend freedom.
“When Farage shrugs at support for Ukraine, a country that has been brutally invaded, people are entitled to ask who he is really speaking for, because this is not patriotism, it’s the behaviour of Putin’s puppet.”
Mr Farage has faced criticism for his past comments on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, once saying: “If you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don’t be surprised if he responds.”
However, he has since been clearer in his condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine.
At a summit in Paris on Tuesday, European leaders insisted the “coalition of the willing” would be game-changing.
White House backing for the agreement has been seen as a positive step amid tensions between Europe and the US over Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland – a territory that belongs to Denmark, a fellow Nato member.
At PMQs, Sir Keir hailed the deal as “significant progress” towards peace. He said: “I will be clear with the House that there will only be deployment after a ceasefire. It would be to support Ukraine’s capabilities, it would be to conduct deterrence operations and to construct and protect military hubs.
“The number will be determined in accordance with our military plans, which we are drawing up and looking to other members to support. So the number [of troops] I will put before the House before we were to deploy, but I will do more than that.
“If we went as far as a legal instrument to deploy, which would be necessary, I would then have a debate in this House so all members could know what we were doing, make their points of view and then have a vote in this House on the issue, which to my mind is the proper procedure in a situation such as this.”
Tan Dhesi MP, the chairman of the Commons defence select committee, has said Parliament should be consulted before British troops are deployed to Ukraine.
“My committee has previously raised serious concerns about the UK’s readiness for modern warfare”, he said.
“Although this announcement is welcome, it intensifies the very real challenges our Armed Forces are already facing. It also runs the risk of overstretching our Armed Forces and so calls into question the UK’s ability to sustain pre-existing commitments to our allies.”
An end to the war in Ukraine still depends on Moscow agreeing to a wider ceasefire plan that the Russian president has so far refused to sign up to. The conflict has been raging since Russia first invaded Ukraine in Feb 2022.
On Tuesday night, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, admitted that any ceasefire could still be “six weeks or six months” away.
However, the declaration signed in Paris paves a legal pathway for British and French forces to operate on Ukrainian soil to help rebuild Ukraine and police its seas and skies.
“When Farage shrugs at support for Ukraine, a country that has been brutally invaded, people are entitled to ask who he is really speaking for, because this is not patriotism, it’s the behaviour of Putin’s puppet.”
Could not have put it better myself. Kremlin shill Peter Hitchens also deploys the “patriotic” ploy; as in “it’s patriotic to help ruZZia.”
Orders received, Farage reverts to type.
Fucking asshole.
Farage’s party; Reform, is unsurprisingly Kremlin West’s choice of U.K. govt.
Comment from :
Mike Smith
Reform’s stance on Ukraine is their main weakness. Most intelligent people realise that appeasement does not work, that Europe is at risk, and that Britain’s support via the Budapest Memorandum makes the UK culpable for the current situation in Ukraine.
Jon Fuller
When I joined the Army in 1969 we had a standing army of over 260,000
Today you could fit the whole of the British Army and Reserves into Wembley and the Navy and RAF into Twickenham
Starmer and Macron are in cloud cuckoo land to think Putin will have sleepless nights about French and British troops in Ukraine.
Andrew Kevill
While I follow Mr Farage’s reasoning, this is a rare case where I think he’s got it wrong. He mentioned BAOR when the UK’s forward defence line was on the inner German border. The deployment did indeed last 50 yrs and it was a raging success.
Because the West won the Cold War and because Putin finds that difficult to accept, our forward defence line now involves the borders of the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine. If it takes another 50 yrs (it will probably be a lot less than that once Putin has gone), then so be it.
Freedom from tyranny cannot be had cheaply and we have to accept that.
Alex Pounder
Hypothetical considerations of potential costs and military overstretch are missing the point: threatening NATO troop deployments in Ukraine is an attempt to prolong the war and undermine the prospects of a negotiated settlement as Starmer and Macron are well aware that as long as Russia maintains the upper hand on the battlefield they will never agree to this.
Kev One
This is the second reason that I wont vote for Farage. His lack of support for european (Ukraine or even Denmark?) actions shows that he is possibly a supporter of Putin’s regime. The first reason is farage’s long silence on trumps actions and activities.
Farage should be questioned on his commitment to a sort of UK DOGE?
GRAHAM REEVE
…and in return Nigel, I will now certainly vote against you. If I’d known what a cowardly, weak, greedy scumbag you were back then, I’d take back my votes for UKIP if I could too… Traitor.
Jason Chamberlin
This is a massive issue for me. As a country we should be standing up for Ukraine. I agree that the Army is too small and agree with the proposal to boost spending to 5%. I even think Reform are on the right lines with areas to cut.
Farage’s line should be – we must do it but we must boost spending now.
What is it with trump and Farage and their desire to appease Russia?
Phillip Mason
I think Farage has just lost 50 per cent of his support base.
Ros Boyle
He is indeed Putin’s stooge, and he is earning his roubles.
John BR
32 members of NATO, two agree to participate. The Poles, the Scandinavians, the Germans all have greater numbers in uniform than our depleted forces, where are they in this ? Germans in Ukraine might not be well received, but they could cover another participant in defending that border.
Leonid Semkin
No surprise, Farage. We know who you are.
Sam Perry
Whilst I deplore the hollowing out of our military, which is now closer to a militia, it is not possible to say we don’t have the manpower until we know the exact operational needs on the ground. Also factor in that this is a multi-lateral group, involving France and other countries. In that context, voting against the idea in principle is a knee-jerk reaction and rather performative, and I daresay a little too anti-Ukrainian, failing to see that Ukraine is the bulwark against further Russian expansion. I fear that Reform has a simplistic view of complex problems. This is not useful. Imagine Prime Minister Farage saying, in effect, “OK, we have Russia agreeing to a ceasefire at last, but we won’t be there among our allies to help monitor it”.
A “coalition of the willing” is needed not for some hypothetical ceasefire, but now, to drive the filthy bastards out of Ukrainian land.
The current stance is also a tacit acceptance of Krasnov’s desire to reward a child-murdering psychopath for unspeakable savagery.
Farage wants the bonus payment from his moscow masters, so of course, he will vote accordingly to get it.
RT’s favourite UK guests were Farage, JeremIRA CorbLenin and the malignant cigar-chomping Marxist George Galloway, who actually campaigned with Farage for Brexit.
This is a textbook example of the horseshoe of politics: far left and far right aligning with the child murdering psychopath Putin.
Reform is unsurprisingly the choice of U.K. govt of the White House; aka Kremlin West.