Oral Answers to Questions

Johanna Baxter Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

Our support is iron-clad. The hon. Lady will have seen our continuing package of sanctions on Russia and will recognise that this issue will be central to our discussions at NATO later on today and tomorrow. Whether it is at the G7, NATO or Weimar+, the UK continues to lead on this critical issue, not just for Ukraine but for European security.

[Johanna Baxter (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (Lab)]

Will the Foreign Secretary consider further sanctions on the Russian regime for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children? In recent peace talks, the Russian delegation proposed an exchange of prisoners of war for Ukrainian children who had been stolen from their homes, thereby equating combatants with children, who receive special protected status under international law. Is that not horrific? Does the Foreign Secretary share my concern that 53,000 Ukrainian children are expected to attend “summer camps” in Russia this summer, from which they are unlikely to return to their homes?

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for continuing to prosecute this issue and for raising it at every opportunity. It is a heinous crime. We have already sanctioned some of the individuals who lie behind it. I will not comment on future sanctions, but we are, of course, keeping this under full consideration. It will be a topic of discussion with both Ukrainian Foreign Ministers and NATO Ministers later today.