Russian Maritime Activity and UK Response

Jim Allister Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

Those bays are designed to be interchangeable, and they will do exactly that.

[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

It is clear that Putin is testing the west’s resolve. I welcome the rigour of the statement. The threat to our underground cables is an international issue. Does the Secretary of State agree that the United Nations response has been disappointing, and that its convention on the law of the sea is wholly inadequate to deal with such subversion and, indeed, is out of date? What steps are being taken internationally to get concerted action to protect the undersea cables on which every nation depends?

[John Healey]

I think the problem is less with the basic rules of the sea and more with observance by states that wilfully test the limits or contravene them. That is why the actions that I have reported to the House, in the instance of the Yantar in British waters, are exactly the sort of steps that nations such as the UK will continue to take, working with allies—particularly close NATO allies.