Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to improve the crisis lines of communication between his Department and the Kremlin in order to avoid escalations through misinterpretation, miscalculation and human error.

The UK takes seriously its communication with Russia, to manage miscalculation and conflict escalation. In response to recent activities, the Secretary of State for Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff have spoken with their Russian counterparts. Both conversations were professional and respectful and agreed the importance of continued military-to-military communication for the purpose of avoiding escalation. Furthermore, we are in regular communication with Allies and Partners to ensure a united response to the on-going crisis.