Ukraine and Russia

Debate between Lord Coaker and Baroness Kingsmill

Tuesday 15th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

We need to be careful about talking about taking Russian drones down in Ukrainian airspace. However, my noble friend is right when he talks about the need for a robust response to the incursions that we have seen. He talked about Lithuania. He will know that the NATO response was strong and powerful and a drone was shot down there following detection shortly after midnight. That is an important indicator. I am not sure whether everybody is aware but, additionally, this morning, at approximately 11 am, an unidentified object was spotted on radar close to Vilnius Airport, leading to its closure. Fighter jets from NATO Baltic Air Policing were scrambled to respond to that. My noble friend is right that Russia needs to know that incursions into NATO airspace will be dealt with robustly and strongly in the way that they have been.

[Baroness Kingsmill (Lab)]

We need to acknowledge the immense efforts that the Ukrainians have made in their defence and that they have been innovative, collaborative and successful in their fight against the Russian invasion, and we also have to acknowledge the significant support that NATO has given them. However, we need to think about what comes next. We need to help the Ukrainians build their industry and their defence industries to grow beyond the innovative stage so that they do not risk them being taken over by the United States or the big western companies and they can build their defence industry for themselves, because the threat from Russia is not going to go away readily.