Ukraine and Russia

Debate between Lord Coaker and Baroness Meyer

Tuesday 15th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

First, I thank the noble Lord for his comments about standing up against Russia. The UK Government have made significant efforts to disrupt the Russian economy through sanctions and through various measures that we have taken. I think it is really important to recognise the impact on Russia. Billions of pounds have been sanctioned and many ships have been disrupted, et cetera, et cetera.

This is not often done, but let me just share with the noble Lord the economic impact on Russia so far. The idea is that nothing has worked. Russia’s GDP growth has slowed from over 4% in 2023-24 to around 1% in 2025, with Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development forecasting only 0.4% growth in 2026. That is a significant achievement, I would say, and we need to say more about its impact. Inflation expectations rose in July to 14.7%, their highest level in years. The deteriorating economic picture is directly hitting average Russians, with growth in Russians’ real incomes projected to slow to 1.6% in 2026, down from 7.7% last year. We have also seen the queues that there have been for fuel.

All I am saying is that there is a lot more to be done —I absolutely accept that—but let us also give credit to the impact on Russia of what we are doing as well. At the same time, let us remind ourselves that our dispute with Russia is with the leadership, not with the Russian people.

[Baroness Meyer (Con)]

My Lords, I agree with everything that my noble friend Lord Minto said and I want to come back to home. As the Minister said, the threats are real. But one has the impression that the Government are not doing enough to protect British citizens. It reminds me a little bit of my father, who is French, who said that, just before World War II, the French were so much in disbelief that Germany could invade them, as they had suffered so much during World War I, and had their heads in the sand. I have the feeling that we are not taking the threats to this country seriously enough.

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

It is difficult to argue that completely. If that were the case, why would we be doing what we are doing in Ukraine, under the last Government and this Government? If we did not believe that the freedom of Ukraine was ultimately and intrinsically linked with our own freedom and the freedom of all of Europe, why would we be supporting NATO in all the ways we have, with respect to infringements of airspace and what we do with Poland? Why do we have troops in Estonia? Why are we talking about the possibility of tactical nuclear weapons on F35As? Ultimately, why is it that we spend a quarter of the defence budget on the nuclear deterrent, which is the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, the freedom of Europe and the freedom of the world? Let us remind ourselves that, although the Prime Minister retains the ultimate decision on its use or not, that nuclear guarantee, our nuclear umbrella, is explicitly given to the defence of Europe. There are challenges, but I do not think it is fair to say that this Government are weak when it comes to Russia.