Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the remarks by the new Chief of the British Army on 16 June regarding "fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle", (2) the potential for more fatalities as a result of the UK's involvement in the war against Russia; and what estimate they have made, if any, of the number of fatalities that would result from UK involvement in the conflict.

The ability and willingness to commit hard capability to fighting wars is a fundamental foundation of our influence and deterrence. As outlined in the Integrated Review, we will continue to work with our Allies and partners to increase our interoperability and burden sharing, ensuring a united response to threats to global security, combining our military, diplomatic and intelligence assets in support of collective security.

We conduct a rigorous assessment of the risks associated with providing defensive capabilities to Ukraine. However, Ukraine is not a NATO member and Ministers have been clear that UK troops will not fight alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We do not comment on hypothetical situations.