Plaid MP under fire for likening Putin’s claim on Ukraine to England’s treatment of Wales

‘Ukraine is not a real country he says. It does not have a right to exist....we in Wales are familiar with these arguments’

A Plaid Cymru MP has likened Vladimir Putin’s claim of a right to rule Ukraine to England’s treatment of Wales, triggering strong criticism.

Hywel Williams, the Welsh nationalists’ defence spokesman, claimed there is “a particular menace” for Wales in the Russian president denying Ukraine is a country in its own right.

“For is in Wales there is a particular menace in Vladimir Putin’s words,” he wrote in a newspaper column.

“Ukraine is not a real country he says. It does not have a right to exist. It is he, far away in Moscow, who has the right to rule. We in Wales are familiar with these arguments.”

But Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, hit out at the comments, saying: “Wales is a willing and democratic part of the United Kingdom.

“Ukrainians are being murdered in a dictator’s invasion. To draw any comparison is at best insensitive and, at worst, minimises what Ukrainians are going through.”

Mr Williams, MP for Arfon – formerly Caernarfon – since 2001, made his comments in a column hailing “the generosity shown by the people of north Wales” towards Ukraine

Up to 300 people attended a rally in his constituency demanding “an end to the war” and “freedom for the people of Ukraine”, he wrote.

Plaid Cymru champions independence for Wales, as well as the use of the Welsh language, which has enjoyed an extraordinary surge in support in recent years.

A break-up used to be backed by just 3 per cent of the population – reflecting the language for the English-speaking majority in Wales – but support has hit nearly 40 per cent recently.

However, Labour has remained its firm grip on the 60-seat Senedd, the Welsh Parliament in Cardiff, which is has controlled since devolution was born in the late 1990s.

Mark Drakeford, the Labour leader, has pushed for greater devolved powers, which is seen as having kept greater support for the independence movement at bay.