No NATO For Ukraine, But Take Putin’s Assets, Says Reform
5 min read
Reform UK's Deputy Leader Richard Tice has suggested that Ukraine should not be admitted to NATO if it is an absolute red line for Russian President Vladimir Putin in peace talks.
Tice, who also serves as Reform’s foreign affairs spokesman, said that Western security guarantees were more important than Kyiv’s entry into the trans-Atlantic defence alliance, particularly if it proved a deal-breaker over any ceasefire.
The Reform MP for Boston and Skegness made the comments in the lead-up to US President Donald Trump’s in-person talks with Putin in Alaska on Friday.
The pair had several hours of talks but did not reach an agreement on ending the war in Ukraine. Trump said they had made "great progress", but at the time of writing, had not disclosed details of the negotiations.
Speaking exclusively to the Latika Takes Podcast, in an interview shared with PoliticsHome, he said Kyiv had to be prepared to accept an “uncomfortable compromise” for an “enduring settlement".
“If Putin said, 'okay, we are right on a deal,' but the absolute break point for him is if Ukraine joins NATO within a defining period, does everyone walk away and say, 'no, no, let's keep killing each other because Ukraine wants to join NATO'?” Tice said.
“Or do you say, 'well, there might be a different way of doing this?'”
Ukraine has stated that the only credible security guarantee to prevent future Russian invasions is NATO membership, due to the Alliance's collective defence clause.
The UK is one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine joining NATO, but it is opposed by the US.
Tice described the US position as “more thoughtful” and said what really mattered were the security guarantees that NATO, the US and the West could offer Ukraine.
“ That's the big question because to get an enduring peace, you have to have robust security guarantees that deter Russia-stroke-Putin from ever trying any of that nonsense again.
‘That’s really the critical thing.”
He denied that this constituted outsourcing Ukraine’s choices over its future to Russia.
“ You're not outsourcing the choice, you're trying to negotiate,” he said.
“Membership of NATO is not a definition of sovereignty...
“No one's in position A, that's the bottom line. If you want to get to a peaceful solution, where, as a sovereign nation, you can make a choice, you wouldn't start from here."
He continued: “We are where we are, it's a hideous place, and Putin's to blame for the place we're in.
“But if you want to get out of it, you've got to look at all the various pieces on the map of which NATO membership is one of them and see if, behind closed doors, you can get to an acceptable settlement.”
Both Labour and the Tories have attacked Reform and its leader, Nigel Farage, as being sympathetic towards Putin and parrotting pro-Kremlin lines.
Farage, the MP for Clacton, said before the last UK general election in July 2024 that "we [the West] provoked this war", and has previously said he admired Putin as a “political operator".
Tice, who has driven medical aid to Ukraine, said his leader had been taken out of context.
“Neither of those things is true; they were taken out of context by the mainstream media,” he said.
“There’s only one person who provoked this Ukraine war, and that is Putin.
“Nigel was speaking about the risks in Ukraine over a decade ago. And those warnings that he gave should be recognised.”
He added: “We want peace and you’ve got to be prepared to think outside the box and try for peace and negotiate for peace, knowing that will involve some difficult compromises.”
Tice called on the government to go further when it came to using the estimated £330bn in Russian money and bonds in overseas bank accounts seized by Western governments at the start of the full-scale invasion.
Around £25bn of Russian assets are held in British bank accounts and government bonds. Tice said these should be fully seized, because "it's one of the things that would upset Putin the most".
He said: “In terms of helping get to a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement... what we do know about him [Putin] is he likes money. Lots of it. He views that money as his own, and if the West takes it, then that will bring him into a different place.”
The bulk of the £330bn in frozen Russian central bank assets is held in European clearing houses, mostly in Belgium.
Western governments have taken the interest generated by those assets and diverted them to Ukraine to help fund its fight against Russia’s invasion.
But out of fears that Russia could retaliate, that it would spark a flight of capital from other authoritarian governments and regimes as well as affect the value of the dollar, pound and Euro, Western governments have been reluctant to seize the assets themselves.
Tice said, however, that if the interest could be used without repercussions, so could the capital.
“We often hear government spokespeople saying we should lead by example,” he said.
“Let's lead by example. Take it, use it, and then basically demand that others do the same.
“You have to try things to get to places, and I just don't buy this British Foreign Office line of: ‘It's too complicated'. ”
“It might upset a few people. I don't care if it's complicated, work 24/7, make it uncomplicated.”
Former Tory prime ministers Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson have also voiced support for using the assets since leaving Downing Street, although neither did when in power.
A Labour source told PoliticsHome: “This government doesn’t take any lessons from a party led by a Putin apologist.
"Unlike Reform, this Labour government has been a rock solid supporter of Ukraine, and we will continue to be, including through pursuing all lawful avenues to ensure Russia pays for the horrific damage it is causing Ukraine.”
