Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with counterparts in the EU to support improvements to the (a) road, (b) rail and (c) ports infrastructure in south eastern Ukraine.

FCO Ministers have discussed support for south eastern Ukraine with EU counterparts on a number of occasions. I did so most recently at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 18 February. My officials have also discussed the provision of such support with the European External Action Service and European Commission in Brussels, and with the EU Delegation in Kyiv. In January, the EU led a scoping visit to south eastern Ukraine, including the city of Mariupol, to assess what further actions might be required, including to improve infrastructure. As part of on-going donor coordination efforts, UK officials frequently discuss with other international donors and the Ukrainian government how best to support Ukraine's infrastructure needs.