Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last received a request from the Government of Ukraine for a telephone conversation with the President of that country.

The FCO received a request on 27 November for a telephone conversation between the Prime Minister and President Poroshenko, to discuss the situation around the Sea of Azov. The Prime Minister is receiving regular updates on this issue, is following events closely and will engage President Poroshenko as events continue to unfold. Our full diplomatic network is engaging on an international response. We are in very close contact in Kyiv. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin on 29 November, when he reaffirmed the UK’s solidarity with Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary also participated in a lunch with EU Foreign Ministers and FM Klimkin in the margins of the 10 December EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.