Death of Alexei Navalny

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen Excerpts

Monday 19th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I recognise what the noble Baroness raises. As I said, we are very much seized of the situation with Mr Kara-Murza and making sure that his welfare is very much a matter of discussion not just with our key partners in the G7 and the G20 but directly with the Russians to ensure that he is protected, and his welfare and health prioritised. However, there can be no escaping the fact that he too has been detained in a colony that is restrictive. We directly challenge the basis of his detention. The noble Baroness says that I have taken great care and measure. We want to ensure that his welfare is fully protected, but I assure your Lordships that we will leave no stone unturned in our advocacy with key partners, and directly with Russia, to ensure the freedoms that he stands for and his rights as a British citizen, and to make our advocacy very clear to the Russians that we regard him as one of our own. We will do our utmost to ensure, first, that his welfare is protected, and, secondly, that he is allowed to return to our country.

[Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Lab)]

My Lords, when the Minister expresses outrage, sympathy and sadness at the death of Alexei Navalny, he speaks for the whole House, and indeed, I believe, for the whole British nation. As somebody who has had dealings with President Putin in the past, I would say that the premature death of Alexei Navalny, whether at the hands of the regime or indirectly because of the conditions that were inflicted on him, is not a sign of strength but of weakness; not a sign of authority but of cowardice; not a sign of firmness but of fragility deep inside the regime of Vladimir Putin today.

I therefore ask the Minister, on behalf of the Government, to look again at the sanctions policy see where Vladimir Putin is getting the instruments to continue to conduct the war in Ukraine: for example, through Armenia and Georgia, to which exports of critical material have been increasing exponentially. Secondly, can we not now boost the communication that we have with the Russian people, as we did in the days of the Soviet Union, so that they begin to realise the pariah status that has been inflicted on a great nation?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord. He has great experience and insight: indeed, he has dealt with Mr Putin directly and knows the individual concerned. On his latter point on communications—my noble friend Lord Howell also mentioned technology enablement—that has been a key feature of what we have seen in Russia directly. The fact that at this moment the death of Alexei Navalny was marked in several Russian cities demonstrably shows that, despite the coercion and suppression, people are ready and willing to come out.

We pay tribute to a number of the leaders within the opposition who have also spoken out against these events. If anything, Mr Putin should look to the example of Yulia Navalnaya and her courage and bravery, as pointed out by the noble Lord, Lord Collins. On looking at the sanctions that we have currently deployed and the broader nature of what can be done, I assure noble Lords that we are very much seized of this. Hopefully, we will be returning to your Lordships’ House in the near future to outline additional measures that we are taking. On additional measures and sanctions—the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and I have talked about this extensively on every sanction—I say that these are most effective when we act with our partners. That is why, I assure noble Lords, we are working very closely with the EU, the US and Canada in this respect.