Ukraine

Baroness Suttie Excerpts

Friday 31st October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Suttie (LD)]

My Lords, I too thank the Government for initiating this debate today and very much look forward to hearing the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Barrow.

It is nearly four years since the full-scale and unprovoked invasion in February 2022. Ukraine faces a fourth harsh winter, with constant drone attacks, concerns about energy supplies, power cuts and, for many women and men, continued gruelling life on the front line, in the trenches. The huge psychological impact and disruption to family life, most particularly for children, is hard for us to imagine.

It is hugely important, as through the debate today, that the Ukrainian people know that there is no wavering in the UK’s support for Ukraine. There is strength too, as other noble Lords have said, in the continued cross-party consensus in this country on Ukraine. With the notable exception of some in Reform UK, Ukraine and Ukrainians can feel secure that they continue to have the support of all mainstream political parties in the UK.

It was very welcome that both the Prime Minister and the King continued to give public demonstrations of support during President Zelensky’s visit to London last week. Such things are symbolic but none the less remain incredibly important. For that reason, I profoundly disagreed with the leader of Kent County Council, from Reform UK, when she said in May that flying the Ukrainian flag was a “distraction” and removed it from County Hall. Flying Ukrainian flags on public buildings is a powerful symbol, and one that I know all my Ukrainian friends hugely appreciate when they come to London and see their flag flying all over Whitehall.

Ahead of the debate today, I was in contact with former colleagues and friends in Kyiv. Their messages to me this week have been characteristically determined, but they have made for sober reading. They fear that, once again, we will do too little, too late, and will not take the brave decisions that need to be taken now. One of their greatest fears is the rise of the populist right in Europe. Disinformation, political interference and manipulation are now very real threats across Europe and beyond. As President Zelensky has said on many occasions—and the Minister repeated—the war in Ukraine is our war too. Ukraine is fighting for our values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. For this to be more than just words, we have to find ways to continue to take the people in this country with us.

Last month, I had the privilege of attending the Sarajevo Security Conference; I refer noble Lords to my entry in the register of interests. I was struck by the conversations I had with military representatives from some of the Nordic and Baltic states. Clearly, those countries that have borders with Russia feel and fear the consequences of the war in Ukraine much more directly. It is not surprising that they are rapidly changing their approaches to defence spending, military service and civil defence. The head of the Norwegian Civil Defence talked to me of their all-society approach to defence and security in Norway, an approach very much embraced in Finland and other Baltic states. It is an approach that puts trust, building resilience and public engagement at its centre. As people face an increasing number of hybrid threats, from power outages to disinformation campaigns and electoral interference, it is incredibly important that people understand that this is now the reality of hybrid war in the 21st century. It is directly connected to the war in Ukraine, and combatting it is all part of our wider defence and security policy. Developing such an all-society approach to defence is contained in the Government’s recent strategic defence review by the noble Lord, Lord Robertson. I would be grateful if, in her closing remarks, the Minister could say a little more about the plans to implement this in practice, as well as about the Government’s wider approach to implementing Article 3 of NATO.

Although people in the UK remain firmly supportive of Ukraine, as all recent opinion polls show, I think that, for many people, it is regarded as something that is happening far away that is not directly relevant to their lives. I genuinely worry that, if the conflict were to escalate, we have not yet built up the resilience or capacity in this country to deal with such a situation. As we substantially increase our defence spending, we have to take people with us. We need to do this through public engagement, as well as through education. We have much to learn about resilience, as well as about technologies and the realities of hybrid war, from Ukraine. In that, I very much agree with what the Minister said.

As the fourth winter of this war approaches, the backdrop remains bleak. President Trump continues to constantly change his mind about his relations with President Putin. The sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil are welcome, if late in the day. We must hope that the reality will one day finally dawn on President Trump that he has been humiliatingly played by the Kremlin.

With the exception of Hungary and Slovakia, it is welcome that the European allies remain united. The principle that only Ukraine should be able to decide Ukraine’s future remains the dominant view in Europe. It is welcome too that a move to increase European defence spending is agreed in principle. This will inevitably mean strengthening Europe’s military industrial capacity and streamlining procurement, but progress is slow and the processes cumbersome.

We face an incredibly difficult period ahead in relations with both Russia and China. New Russian weaponry, including hypersonic missiles, are a threat not just to Ukraine but to us all. When we now look back at the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014, I would argue that the absence of a powerful and united response was a strategic error. It allowed President Putin to believe that he could carry out the full-scale invasion of 2022. He gambled on Ukraine being weak and divided, as well as on the West’s inability to unite. If he utterly misjudged the response of the Ukrainian people, he also largely misjudged the West’s response. This has, however, been made significantly more complex since President Trump returned to the White House in January this year.

It is hard to know if the current US-led discussions will lead to a ceasefire and an eventual peace. However, I very much hope that the UK will continue to play a pivotal role in ensuring that any such discussions adhere to two key principles: namely, that boundaries must never be redrawn by force and that only Ukraine should be allowed to decide upon its own future. I believe that history will harshly judge any solution that does not adhere to those principles.