Ukraine: Frozen Russian Assets

Lord Petitgas Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate (Non-Afl)]

My Lords—

[Lord Petitgas (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We will hear from the noble Lord, Lord Petitgas, please.

[Lord Petitgas (Con)]

It is fine to talk about frozen assets and say that Russia should pay, but I want to switch gears a little bit. It looks like the Americans are focused on getting Ukraine partly to pay through this rare earth deal. I read that Zelensky was going to fly over on Friday to sign the deal. Do the Government think we should be involved in some way in a deal like this? President Macron pointed out to Trump that the European Union had put up more money than the US, and today the FT has an article with a very simple graph showing that the EU is a bigger contributor than the US—and actually, the UK looks pretty big too. When it comes to the question of sending troops, not having anything on the rare earth deal and then chasing the Russians, it feels like something is missing. What is the Government’s position on that?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I hear what the noble Lord is saying, but, as he has given quite a full summary of public statements over the last few days, he will be aware that it is probably not helpful for me to speculate from this Dispatch Box on conversations and the agreements that may or may not be reached in the coming days, tempted as I am. The thing that concerns us all is to find a way to end this conflict and restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and that whatever deals are done are in line with what Ukraine and its leadership wants. That is the firm ground on which this Government stand.