Ukraine: UK Security Guarantee

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Thursday 5th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes an excellent point, and it is important that we remind ourselves about this. That counts for now, and it also counts after any ceasefire is achieved. We need to remember that Russia instigated this and, if we allow this to go unchecked or for there to be any kind of reward for this aggression, we cannot be confident that this would be the last time that we would see this kind of action from Russia.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, in the initial reply the Minister gave to the House, she rightly referred to those children who have been abducted from Ukraine. Yesterday, the envoy for missing children pointed out that the technology that is used to track more than 30,000 of those children expires this month with the ending of funding from USAID. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to ensure that the funding does not end, and what are we doing to ensure that the special tribunal to bring to justice those responsible for the abduction of children goes ahead?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

What has happened to those children is abhorrent, and they should be returned immediately. My understanding is that the Ukrainians have now issued a list of names to the Russians, to enable them to be returned immediately. I will look into the issue of the funding for the technology—that is very important. I do not have an answer for the noble Lord now, but I will find out and write to him, and I will share that with other noble Lords, who I know have a keen interest in this—and I am pleased that they do.