Ukraine
Rachel Blake Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Anneliese Dodds
The right hon. Member is right to condemn the truly appalling attacks that we saw recently. They provided yet more evidence that Russia is seeking to terrorise the Ukrainian population into submission, an approach that we wholly reject and condemn and that runs contrary to international humanitarian law. The UK will continue to do everything we can to support Ukraine’s resilience and its defence in this situation. Given the point that he made on this subject, let me underline what I said earlier: the Kursk operation was a defensive operation, and we should not forget that Russia repeatedly launched attacks on Ukraine from Kursk oblast.
Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)
We have heard about the role of Russian assets in this country. The Minister will be aware of my concerns about asset ownership in the constituency of Cities of London and Westminster, and how vital it is for UK economic growth that we can pride ourselves on having clean and transparent financial markets in the City of London. Does she agree that securing transparency through trust ownership is a really important part of ensuring that we can understand ownership of assets in this country, and that we cannot wait any longer for enforcement around the transparency of trusts in order to secure our understanding of the situation?
Anneliese Dodds
I am well aware of my hon. Friend’s leadership on these issues and her long-term commitment to ensuring transparency. Of course, she will understand that the precise rules around financial instruments are not a matter for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; they are of course a matter for His Majesty’s Treasury. On the broader issue, however, I can say to her that we are very clear that effective sanctions will require effective enforcement and implementation. We will continue to strengthen our work—including with international partners and allies, and through our role at the UN—to maximise the impact of sanctions, to close loopholes and to close other channels for circumventing sanctions.