Ukraine

Nusrat Ghani Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Luke Pollard)]

It is day 1,030 of Putin’s illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and I would like to update the House on the current situation in Ukraine.

Ukrainians are approaching their third Christmas since Putin launched his illegal, full-scale assault. Russian forces are over 1,000 days into a war Putin thought would be over in less than a week. The Ukrainian people have paid a horrendous price for Putin’s aggression, and it is testament to their grit, determination and courage that they have mounted such a heroic defence of their country. The UK has stood with Ukraine since day one, and I can confirm to the House that yesterday the Defence Secretary travelled to Kyiv to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Defence Minister Umerov, to discuss a joint plan for 2025 and to underline the UK’s commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.

It may be useful for the House if I provide an operational update. According to our latest Defence Intelligence insights, the frontline remains unstable. Russian forces continue to conduct attacks and advances at several locations along the front in eastern Ukraine, and have made accelerating gains in recent months in central Donetsk oblast. The conflict is currently classed as attritional, and it is brutal. It is also appropriate for me to confirm to the House that North Korean troops are currently engaged in offensive combat operations in Russia’s Kursk oblast, where around 11,000 DPRK—Democratic People’s Republic of Korea—troops have been deployed. Our assessment is that it is highly likely they have sustained significant combat casualties, while achieving only limited tactical gains. Our assessments further indicate there have been over 750,000 Russian casualties since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, with the grim milestone of 1 million Russians dead and wounded likely to be reached within approximately six months.

This Government are clear that the frontline of British and European security runs through Ukraine. Our support for the Ukrainian people is iron-clad. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, one of the strengths of the UK approach under successive Governments has been the significant cross-party support from all parties in this House. That characterised our period in opposition, and it has continued while we have been in government, and I am grateful to the Conservative party and, indeed, all parties in this House for their continuing support for Ukraine.

In total, the UK has now provided £12.8 billion of assistance to Ukraine, and we remain a leading donor of military equipment. The Prime Minister has committed in person to President Zelensky that the UK will give £3 billion of military aid each year for as long as Ukraine needs. The year 2025 will be a critical one for the war. President Zelensky has laid out his victory plan, built around timely and effective military support, security guarantees, long-term deterrence and rebuilding Ukraine by unleashing the country’s economic potential, and he has spoken of his desire to secure a just peace from a position of strength.

Today, I would like to outline to the House how we will step up the UK’s international leadership on Ukraine into 2025, including a new £225 million package of military support—while in Kyiv, the Defence Secretary pledged that and confirmed it in his meeting with Defence Minister Umerov—and our five priority areas for UK defence support in 2025.

First, we will further increase and strengthen Ukraine’s military capabilities. Our new £225 million package of military support includes £186 million of key military equipment through the UK-administered international fund for Ukraine, with £92 million to bolster the Ukrainian navy’s fighting power, including advanced reconnaissance drones, the latest generation of uncrewed surface vessels, loitering munitions and mine countermeasure drones. The package also includes £68 million for air defence equipment, including new radars, decoy land equipment and cutting-edge counter-drone electronic warfare systems, as well as £26 million to provide support and spare parts for previously delivered critical military systems to keep them in the fight. Our stepped-up military support package includes £39 million to deliver 1,000 counter-drone electronic warfare systems, together with respirators and equipment to protect Ukrainian frontline forces. We are also gifting explosive charges to equip more than 90,000 155 mm artillery rounds, compatible with the dozens of British Army AS-90 self-propelled artillery guns previously provided by the United Kingdom.

Ukraine’s frontline is also the frontline of our security. I know the whole House will recognise that this latest military support package is firmly in the UK’s national security interests and that it will strengthen the resilience of our own defence industrial base, too. Yesterday, the House passed, with total cross-party support, the Financial Assistance to Ukraine Bill. This allows the Government to fulfil our commitment to provide Ukraine with an additional £2.26 billion through our contribution to the G7 extraordinary revenue acceleration loan scheme, which will be repaid using the profits from the immobilised Russian sovereign assets, enabling Ukraine to buy military equipment to defend itself and its freedom against Russian aggression. Taken together, this represents the highest amount of UK military support since the war began.

Secondly, we will continue training Ukraine’s armed forces throughout 2025, adding to the 51,000 Ukrainian troops already trained here in the United Kingdom as part of Operation Interflex, the multinational training programme we deliver alongside 12 partner nations. Having met Royal Air Force-trained Ukrainian pilots at Operation Interstorm and Ukrainian soldiers trained by the British Army and our partners in trenches dug in the English countryside, I know at first hand the difference our training makes. Each person we train—each Ukrainian we train—is a message to Putin that Ukraine does not stand alone. We will continue to provide the training that Ukraine needs and be flexible to meet its requirements.

Thirdly, we will build the defence sector in Ukraine, the UK and across Europe to leave Putin in no doubt but that Ukraine is not alone in this fight and that there is the ability to sustain Ukraine in the fight. In the autumn, I accompanied UK defence companies on a trade mission to Kyiv to discuss opportunities for the long-term co-operation that can reinforce Ukraine’s defence industry as a powerful deterrent against Russia and a powerful asset for Euro-Atlantic security. This Government are also delivering on the defence industrial support treaty signed with Ukraine in July, and we have made £3.5 billion of export finance available to buy military capabilities. We look forward to finalising a series of mutually agreed projects that will simultaneously bolster Ukraine’s defences and the UK’s defence industrial resilience in due course.

Fourthly, we will continue to work with allies to step up international support. Let me again be clear with the House that this Government will work with Ukraine to progress down its irreversible path towards NATO membership. We are working with the Ukraine defence contact group as well as allies further afield to increase the tempo of support and impose further costs on Russia. I can confirm that there will be a notable gear shift in January, when we commence delivery of tens of thousands of drones through the maritime and drone capability coalitions that the UK is leading with our Norwegian and Latvian partners.

Fifthly, we will reinforce the cross-Government effort to increase pressure on Russia, including close working between the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to increase diplomatic pressure and sanctions. The MOD is working hand in glove with the FCDO through our recently formed joint unit on Ukraine to maximise the impact of UK defence support by starving the Kremlin of the resources it needs to sustain its war effort. We will continue to co-ordinate these sanctions with like-minded allies around the world to deny Russia’s war machine the goods, technologies and revenues it needs to sustain its illegal war, and we will continue to expose Russia’s malicious cyber-attacks and disinformation efforts, and the hostile operations of its intelligence services.

As we prepare to return to our constituencies to see our loved ones over Christmas, I know the thoughts of the whole House will be with all those Ukrainians unable to do so. Many are facing a Christmas and a new year of ongoing assault and aerial bombardment of their frontline, their homes, their towns, their cities and their critical energy infrastructure. So 2025 is set to be a critical year in the conflict and our resolve will not falter. President Zelensky has spoken of his desire for a just peace, and the Government are in no doubt that a just and lasting peace is only achievable by strengthening Ukraine’s hand. That is why this week the Defence Secretary in Kyiv, and I as the Minister at the Dispatch Box, have set out how we will increase Ukraine’s military capabilities, how we are committed to training thousands more Ukrainian troops, how we will strengthen defence industrial co-operation, how we will harness the support of Ukraine’s allies, and how we will increase pressure on Russia. This is the surest route to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and I commend this statement to the House.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the shadow Minister.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Before I call the Minister, let me say that, Mr Darling, I can see that you are bobbing, and if you stay in the Chamber, I will make sure to call you at an appropriate time.

[Luke Pollard]

I thank the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) for his party’s continuing support for our friends in Ukraine. He is certainly right that the initial provision of anti-tank weapons made a significant contribution in the early days, and the provision of a whole array of capabilities in every month since enables Ukraine to stay in the fight, which is absolutely essential. Today’s statement updates the House on the additional military capabilities that we are providing to Ukraine, and on how we will continue to do that.

The Defence Secretary has already announced that we will extend Operation Interflex until the end of 2025. That is good news. We have always been clear that we will flex the provision of Interflex training to suit the needs of our Ukrainian friends. The right hon. Gentleman is right that there was initial skills training, and we now train different skills, and that training is delivered differently. As the Defence Secretary has said, we will need to make the training a better fit for what the Ukrainians need. We need to make it easier for the Ukrainians to access it, and we work with the Ukrainians to help and motivate them to mobilise more recruits. The right hon. Gentleman will understand if I do not help Putin by revealing our plans, and any conversations that we may have with our Ukrainian friends, but we will update the House in due course.

The international fund for Ukraine is a really important part of the mix. I can get the right hon. Gentleman the full details on that, and about our share, and I will place that in the Library of the House. I also place on record our wider support for all our international colleagues who are contributing to that fund.

The chemical weapons assessment has a high classification, and the right hon. Gentleman will understand if I do not go into the full detail of Russian capabilities and any use, but the provision of respirators is a really important part of ensuring that Ukraine’s frontline troops are better able to defend themselves.

We have a plan to replenish our stocks; it will come alongside the defence industrial strategy. That intent was published by the Defence Secretary a few weeks ago, and that will be part of the strategic defence review. The mantra that the SDR will be published in the first half of next year is not, I am afraid, new; it is the existing Government position. However, I can reassure the right hon. Gentleman that the intent is to publish it in the spring. Work continues on that, and I am grateful to Lord Robertson and his review team for the thorough work that they are doing. The aim is to make sure that the review is not just Labour’s defence review, but is a defence posture that is supported cross-party, so that we can ensure that our national security is strong, and so that we can deter aggression and defeat it if necessary.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee on Defence.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

I am grateful to the diligent Minister for advance sight of his statement. It was good to chat with the Secretary of State on his return from Ukraine, and I welcome his pledge, while there, of a £225 million package of support for Ukraine, because as the Minister rightly highlights, Ukraine’s frontline is the frontline of our own security. Can the Minister provide further detail, however? After the UN Secretary-General’s statements last week about turbocharging defence, can the Minister provide further details of discussions with NATO and other allies, in particular our US friends, including recent discussions between the Prime Minister and President-elect Trump, on the international defence steps being taken at this critical juncture?

[Luke Pollard]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s support for the military package outlined today. The UK Government will increase defence spending to 2.5% of our GDP, and a path for that increase will be laid out in due course at future fiscal events. We will publish the strategic defence review, which will set out, perhaps more importantly, what we seek to spend any money on; we can then look at what capabilities we need to develop and how that takes us further. We continue to speak with our NATO allies through the SDR process, to make sure that the UK’s defence offer is a “NATO first” offer that allows more interoperability and supports our NATO allies, especially on NATO’s eastern flank. I look forward to being able to speak more about that in due course to my hon. Friend’s Committee.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[James MacCleary (Lewes) (LD)]

Thank you—[Interruption.] Sorry, I was just trying not to step on the right hon. Jennie. It is absolutely right that we give our brave Ukrainian allies the support that they need to resist Putin’s war machine. I am proud of how our country has stood shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in defence of freedom and democracy, yet with the looming threat of a Trump presidency, America’s ongoing commitment to Ukraine looks increasingly uncertain. It should serve as a wake-up call to us all. If the United States pulls back its support, Europe must step up.

The Liberal Democrats want to see the UK take a lead within Europe. That must begin with concrete action, such as seizing frozen Russian assets to bolster Ukraine’s defences, as I and others spoke about in this House just yesterday, and reversing damaging Conservative cuts to our armed forces. Those steps will strengthen Ukraine’s hand and Britain’s security. Robust financial and humanitarian assistance is also vital. Just a few weeks ago, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs, Defence and Home Office spokespeople met a delegation of Ukrainian MPs, who stressed the urgent need for ongoing tangible support. Their message was clear: Europe’s role has never been more important. The Liberal Democrats stand firmly behind these measures.

The impending Trump presidency puts the safety of Ukraine and Europe in doubt. Does the Minister agree that it is time for the UK to take a lead within Europe on defence and security, and will he commit to working with his European counterparts to make sure that Ukraine is supported fully? The Minister also mentioned Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy network. Can he outline what work the Government are doing to support Ukraine in getting electricity generators and solar panels installed across the country to keep it functioning?

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[Luke Pollard]

I thank my hon. Friend for his work in support of Ukraine. He is a consistent champion, working cross-party, too. It is right that we seek to improve and grow our technology, especially around drones and in autonomy. The treaty we signed with Ukraine enables it effectively to use Defence Equipment and Support as its own procurement agency to initiate more contracts, more quickly, not only enabling support for Ukrainian industry, but allowing UK industry to work with it to deploy more capabilities faster. He is absolutely right that the pace of change in Ukraine means that we need to continue to invest in research and development, and to learn the lessons. That is one reason why the Defence Secretary made the announcement about retiring the British Army’s Watchkeeper system—a 14-year-old drone—in favour of more modern systems that we hope to be able to announce in the SDR.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

This is a great opportunity for me to wish the Father of the House a happy Christmas.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

When Russia cruelly invaded Finland in 1940, she not only took territory with force majeure, but imposed neutrality on that country for 50 years. There was a phrase for it: Finlandisation. I know our influence is not overwhelming, but when it comes to the Trump presidency, will the Minister assure me that the Government will stiffen the sinews of the Trump presidency and ensure that there is absolutely no question of any war aim of Russia’s being achieved, namely taking territory and neutralising Ukraine? We therefore must fast-track NATO membership.

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[Luke Pollard]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and, through him as a Northern Ireland MP, I thank all those families in Northern Ireland who have welcomed Ukrainians into their homes and continue to support them, and the industry in Northern Ireland that is supporting Ukraine. It is the position of the UK Government that we do not have and will not provide UK troops for combat roles in Ukraine. However, we will continue to support our Ukrainian friends through the provision of training and the military equipment they need to determine their future. The training in Operation Interflex will continue throughout the entirety of next year, and will continue to flex and adapt to the changing needs of the Ukrainian fight. It is certainly true that Ukraine needs more people on the frontline to deter the aggression, and our ability to improve and update our training offer, alongside our international partners, will be critical to keeping Ukraine in the fight in the months to come.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Saving the best Back-Bench contributor till last.

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is an honour and a novelty to follow my near neighbour, the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).

The cost of a new year’s dinner in Russia is up over 11%, interest rates are up, taxes are up and the rouble is down. That is largely down to the fact that the previous Government introduced a punitive range of sanctions against Russia. The famous military phrase is “in all domains” and the economic domain is absolutely critical. Can the Minister assure us that we will continue to ramp up economic pressure, as well as military pressure?