Russian Attacks on Civilian Infrastructure

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2026 Lords Chamber

Russia can end this war, but in the meantime, we will continue to work with international partners. The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelensky last night. We will continue to ensure that Ukraine gets the military and financial support it needs to defend itself, while ramping up the economic pressure on Russia to force Putin to de-escalate the war and engage in meaningful talks”.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, Britain has stood resolutely against Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and we continue to support the Government in their opposition to Putin’s war. Britain has a role to play in weakening the Russian war machine through effective sanctions, working in close concert with our US and European partners. Can the Minister please explain why the Government have appeared to weaken their oil sanctions on Russia?

We welcome the Statement the Prime Minister made in March. The British Armed Forces are now able to board sanctioned vessels that are passing through our waters, and the Defence Secretary said something similar. To date, how many sanctioned vessels have been seized?

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

I think even the noble Lord knows when he says “appeared to weaken” that the story that was reported was not exactly accurate. We have new sanctions that we are introducing, although they will not be introduced perhaps as quickly as some noble Lords would like, and we can discuss them when they come before the House. But the idea that we have weakened existing sanctions is simply not correct.