Nigel Farage has finally addressed Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Volodymyr Zelenskyy following a wave of backlash.

The US president dubbed the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” on Wednesday mid-afternoon and falsely accused Kyiv of starting the war actually initiated by Vladimir Putin.

British party leaders all leapt into action shortly after Trump’s remarks to distance themselves from the claim and stand by Zelenskyy.

Farage did not speak up until Thursday lunchtime, but has since claimed this is because he was travelling on a plane.

On Thursday lunchtime, Farage told GB News that he was travelling to Washington “hence the delay” – but agreed Zelenskyy was not a “dictator”.

He said: “You should always take what Donald Trump says seriously. You shouldn’t always take what Donald Trump says absolutely literally. I think that applies absolutely in this case.”

Farage added: “Let’s be clear, Zelenskyy is not a dictator. But it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections.

“After all, I recently said I thought Keir Starmer was behaving like a dictator because he cancelled the vote of 5.5 million in local elections on May 1 this year.

“So no, he’s not a dictator, but there needs to be a timeline so Ukrainian people can vote on a peace deal.”

Ukraine postponed its 2024 presidential election due to the ongoing bombardment from Russia.

After Trump’s “dictator” comments, prime minister Keir Starmer phoned Zelenskyy last night to emphasise his support for “Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”.

He also reassured him it is “perfectly normal” to postpone elections while at war, as Britain did during World War 2.

Tory leader Kemi Badenochwent further on social media,writing: “President Zelenskyy is not a dictator. He is the democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion.”

Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, also slammed “Trump’s lies” last night, writing on X: “Calling Zelensky a ‘Dictator’ must be where the line is drawn.”

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer joined her fellow politicians on Thursday, saying that the US president had sunk “to new depths with his tirade of disinformation about President Zelenskyy”.

She added: “All of the UK must stand firmly with Ukraine against Trump’s dangerous propaganda, taken direct from Putin’s playbook.”

Farage’s initial silence triggered a wave of criticism last night and this morning.

As a Tory source told HuffPost UK: “Nigel Farage’s silence speaks volumes...”

Meanwhile, Davey asked why Farage was being “unusually quiet” on social media, later adding: “There’s a rumour that Nigel Farage is keeping his head down because he’s off to a Trump cheerleading conference over the weekend.

“I’m afraid I’m being proved right – Farage is far more interested in Trump’s success than British security. He is a bootlicker and a plastic patriot.”

Once the Reform UK leader had confirmed he did not agree with Trump entirely on this issue, his Lib Dem counterpart wrote on X: “So Nigel Farage has chosen to explain away Trump’s outrageous remarks about President Zelenskyy 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.”

It’s worth noting Farage’s response comes after a YouGov poll concluded that Reform UK voters’ attitude towards the Ukraine war differ significantly from other British voters.

The pollsters found 47% of Reform voters want Ukraine to win, compared to between 77% and 86% of Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat voters.