Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of (a) the extent of and (b) who is responsible for growth in the level of violence in the Donbas region of Ukraine; and whether such violence constitutes a breach of the ceasefire agreement.

The increase in fighting and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in recent days around the town of Avdiivka in the Donbas represents a serious escalation. We have called publicly for all sides to demonstrate restraint, facilitate humanitarian access, and to commit to a full and sustained ceasefire, in line with the provisions of the Minsk Agreements.

Such fighting is clearly in breach of the ceasefire commitments set out in the Minsk Agreements. We are clear that the conflict in Ukraine has been caused, and is sustained by, deliberate Russian destabilisation of Ukraine.