Ukraine

Baroness Pidding Excerpts

Friday 31st October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Pidding (Con)]

My Lords, thank the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, for bringing forward this debate, and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Barrow, on his excellent maiden speech. Russia’s full-scale invasion launched over three years ago is an act of unwarranted aggression and a complete repudiation of the rules-based international order that this House has long defended.

Today, I wish to focus on the appalling humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s disgraceful abduction of Ukrainian children, which underlines the UK’s moral obligation to explore every possible opportunity to support Ukraine’s economy so that its armed forces can continue to push back against Putin’s war machine.

Of all the crimes committed by Putin’s regime, none is more barbaric than the systematic, state-sponsored abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children. The figures are staggering: Save the Children estimates that more than 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territories. This is not some unfortunate accident or a by-product of modern conflict; it is designed to fatally undermine Ukraine by destroying its future. We hear reports that these young lives are being exposed to forced militarisation and placed in camps, military bases and foster families, all with the intent of dissolving their Ukrainian roots.

The UK has rightly played an important role in marshalling international pressure on Moscow, yet this is the bare minimum. We have an absolute moral obligation to do everything we can to ensure Ukraine’s survival and eventual triumph. Like the noble Lord, Lord Bruce, I remind noble Lords that the UK was one of four signatories to the 1994 Budapest memorandum, by which Ukraine agreed to relinquish its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal in return for security assurances. The failings of the West to stand by these assurances, combined with Russia’s endless and increasing threats, have demonstrated to autocrats across the globe that nuclear weapons give you the right to act with impunity. We therefore have a moral obligation to ensure that the international pressure on Moscow is not just maintained but dramatically intensified. Every individual, every facilitator and every institution complicit in this monstrous scheme must face the full force of our sanctions and travel bans.

The safe and immediate return of those children is not negotiable. It is a moral duty and a prerequisite for any just peace. But moral clarity alone is not enough. The past century has decisively demonstrated that peace is secured through strength, and that strength must be economic as well as military. Ukraine cannot defeat Russian aggression without a resilient and self-sustaining economy. We have been leaders, rightly pledging £21 billion in support since 2022, but our focus must now shift firmly to the long term. Military aid is vital—it buys time—but economic aid buys a future. We must ensure that Ukraine has the fiscal stability to pay its teachers, heat its homes and rebuild its infrastructure, all while fighting a war of national survival. We must recognise that trade is a superior long-term strategy to aid. While we rightly send funds and military equipment, we must also ensure Ukraine can earn its own way to recovery.

The UK’s free trade agreement with Ukraine has been a critical lifeline, allowing Ukrainian farmers and manufacturers working under the most impossible conditions to sustain their industries. Those exports generate crucial foreign revenue, with the tax receipts directly funding Ukraine’s armed forces. There is, however, a looming cut-off for Ukrainian poultry and eggs, which were singled out for a two-year extension, as opposed to five as originally intended. At this critical stage, we must ensure that Ukraine can earn every last penny it can, and I call on the Government to ensure that Ukrainian farmers retain tax-free access to the UK market.

Let us reject the defeatism that says this conflict is a stalemate. Let us reject the moral blindness that accepts the abduction of children as an inevitable consequence of war. Let us instead commit to a policy rooted in two unshakeable pillars: first, the tireless pursuit of justice and the return of every single Ukrainian child, and secondly, the unwavering provision of maximum economic support, ensuring Ukraine does not just survive this brutal invasion but emerges victorious and whole.