Jacob Rees-Mogg believes Brexit stopped Putin's Russia from succeeding in Ukraine - yes, really

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative MP and GB News host who was the minister for Brexit opportunities under Boris Johnson’s government, has offered up another questionable ‘benefit’ of the UK’s exit from the European Union – this time claiming our departure made it “impossible for [Russia’s president Vladimir] Putin to succeed” in illegally invading Ukraine.

Speaking to Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Rees-Mogg said the UK was able to show “global leadership” in responding to the war – in remarks not too dissimilar to those previously made by Boris Johnson, who said in February that Brexit allowed the UK to “do things differently” when supporting Ukraine.

Rees-Mogg continued: “Putin would probably have invaded Ukraine successfully if the UK had been bound in by the requirement of sincere cooperation and had had to follow a Franco-German line in dealing with Russia – which is what we did in 2014.”

The reference to 2014 concerns Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine that year, while “sincere cooperation” is a nod to the requirement of “mutual sincere cooperation” between EU member states in Article 13 of the Treaty of the European Union.

When asked by Ridge if his comments meant he believed Putin would have successfully invaded Ukraine if we remained an EU member post-2020, Rees-Mogg replied: “I think the leadership shown by Boris Johnson - which he could only do because he was not bound by sincere cooperation – ensured that a coalition was set up which made it impossible for Putin to succeed.

“I think if that hadn’t been the case - we’d been bound by this concept of sincere cooperation – we would have had the mucky compromise that was delivered in 2014 when Russia invaded the Crimea.”

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If you’re left feeling baffled by Rees-Mogg’s remarks, then you’re not alone, as the MP’s comments were soon branded “insulting” and “narcissistic” by Twitter users:

https://twitter.com/TOrynski/status/1657710082057027586?s=20

https://twitter.com/Mij_Europe/status/1657691752579358720?s=20

The responses online ridiculing Rees-Mogg means the politician has suffered a second humiliating roasting this week, after BBC Today presenter Nick Robinson made a dig at his low viewership on GB News during Thursday’s edition of the Radio 4 programme.

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