Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the implications for the UK of the recently published United States national security strategy.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government shares many of the priorities outlined in the US National Security Strategy published on 18 December 2017, including addressing the challenges posed by North Korea, reducing violent extremism and defeating the remnants of Da'esh, tackling cyber attacks and organised crime, and strengthening the rules-based international system. We welcome the Strategy's restatement of the US commitment to NATO, including Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty, and its recognition that working with Allies such as the UK contributes to collective security. The US and UK are very close allies and partners, with a uniquely broad and deep security relationship, and we will continue to work together on issues vital to the UK's security and prosperity.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to co-operate with Russia in the fight against ISIL.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have a shared interest with Russia in tackling ISIL and bringing peace and security to the region. We are concerned that the majority of Russian airstrikes in Syria to date have targeted areas in which ISIL is not present. It is important that Russia continues to engage in the International Syria Support Group.
At the G20, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and President Putin agreed that the international community needed to find a way to work together to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria and focus on the shared aim of destroying ISIL.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the recent atrocities committed by ISIL in France, Egypt and the Lebanon, whether they have reconsidered the statement by the Foreign Secretary on 10 March that Russia represented the "single greatest threat to UK Security".
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As the Strategic Defence and Security Review makes clear, Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilising activities in Ukraine directly challenge European security and the rules-based international order. We have long been clear that Russia’s actions are unacceptable. Nevertheless we need to work with Russia on key areas of shared interest: in particular to end fighting in Syria, and to focus on the shared aim of destroying the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. That was the basis on which the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), met President Putin at the G20 Summit in Antalya on 16 November.