The Ukrainian president suggested Reform UK’s refusal to fly his country’s flag is a “small mistake that can break a big friendship.”
LONDON — Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Reform UK-run local authorities to fly the Ukrainian flag from their buildings again.
The Ukrainian president warned that a refusal by Nigel Farage’s populist right-wing party to fly foreign flags is the type of “small mistake that can break a big friendship.”
Local councils run by other parties in the U.K. do fly the Ukrainian flag in solidarity with nation. But Reform UK has a policy of only flying the Union flag, the St George’s Cross and county flags from public buildings it controls.
Speaking to the Guardian newspaper after talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street, Zelenskyy said: “I don’t want to be involved in any political things, but you know, the world is so sensitive today. Sometimes little, small mistakes can break big friendship or huge contacts.
“I think people have to not make mistakes, not to do anything which can break a friendship, and even if people do it [I would say:] ‘OK, so you did it, please let’s come back to the table, let’s speak, let’s understand each other.’”
Reform UK controls more than two dozen councils across England after making significant gains in local elections in 2025 and 2026.
Farage has repeatedly insisted he backs Ukraine in its fight against Russia, but rejects putting British troops on the ground in a postwar Ukraine.
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “It is an entirely reasonable position to support the people of Ukraine in their fight against Russia, whilst also believing that only domestic flags should be flown from public buildings at home.
“Support for Ukraine is measured by actions, not by the number of foreign flags flying above our town halls.”