Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, what the 400 vehicles are that will be sent to Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We will provide over 400 vehicles to Ukraine, consisting of 160 protected mobility Husky vehicles; 162 armoured vehicles comprised of further AS90 155mm artillery guns and Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked); and 78 all-terrain vehicles made up of Bv-206 and Viking.
These will provide much needed additional artillery support, reconnaissance capabilities, and amphibious mobility to support development of the Ukrainian marine corps.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer on 25 April 2024 to Question 22900 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, whether the Ukrainian authorities have accepted liability for any UK seacraft in the last twelve months.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence have provided 24 offshore and inflatable raiding craft to Ukraine. In addition, we recently announced our largest-ever military aid package for Ukraine, which will include 60 more military-grade boats, including offshore raiding craft, rigid raiding craft and dive boats.
On 30 September 2022, the Royal Navy transferred two Mine Countermeasures Vessels to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does not include Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
The package does include more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include Challenger Main Battle Tanks.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does not include Challenger Main Battle Tanks.
The package does include more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include artillery.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 includes the AS90 self-propelled 155mm gun.
The package also includes more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include (a) 152 and (b) 155 mm ammunition.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does not include 152mm or 155mm artillery ammunition.
However, more than £245 million worth of artillery ammunition will be supplied to Ukraine this financial year.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding (1) they have given so far, and (2) they have pledged to give, to support the government of Ukraine's investigations into war crimes, and how much they have given and pledged to give to the International Criminal Court or any other international bodies supporting victims and witnesses of war crimes.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to holding Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine. We have provided £6.2 million of capacity-building support to Ukraine's domestic work to document, investigate, and prosecute war crimes. Since February 2022, we have provided £2.3 million in additional contributions to the International Criminal Court to increase its capacity to collect evidence and support survivors. This is on top of our annual budget contribution to the ICC, a total of £36.2 million for 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the resolution of the House of 27 June 2023 on Repurposing Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential implications for his policies of that resolution; and whether the plans to bring forward such legislation.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to work closely with allies to explore all lawful routes by which immobilised Russian sovereign assets can be used to support Ukraine consistent with our respective legal systems and international law. G7 Leaders reaffirmed this on 24 February, instructing relevant ministries to continue their work to that end and report back ahead of the G7 Summit in June. We will keep the House updated on significant developments, as appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it remains their position that foreign and defence policy are aligned, as stated in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published in March 2021, and the Integrated Review Refresh 2023, published in March 2023.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Global Britain in a Competitive Age, The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (IR 2021), set the UK’s overarching national security, foreign, defence and other relevant policy. It was supported by a series of published sub-strategies, including the 2021 Defence Command Paper and the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy.
The IR 2021 foreshadowed the global turbulence of the last two years. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - to whom the UK continues to provide a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance - to imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus and conflict in the Middle East, the reality is that the world has become more dangerous, with far-reaching consequences for the security and prosperity of the British people.
Integrated Review Refresh 2023 Responding to a More Contested and Volatile World (IRR 2023) set out how the UK will meet that challenge head-on.
IRR 2023 concluded that the broad direction set by IR2021 - which includes the integration of foreign and defence policy - was right and that HMG has made significant progress in delivering against that direction. The Defence Command Paper 2023 provided details on how the UK would respond to the changing context and deliver on the Integrated Review Refresh within its resource envelope, increasing its productivity and focusing on areas that will achieve impact.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are their priorities for the G7 Summit which will be held in Borgo Egnazia from 13 to 15 June.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The G7 is a critical forum for the UK to engage like-minded partners on complex global challenges and for delivering on the interests of the British people on the global stage.
At the 2024 G7 Leaders Summit, The Prime Minister will be focused on strengthening our collective security, including by maintaining unwavering G7 resolve to support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal invasion, and aligning responses to ongoing geopolitical challenges, including in the Middle East. We will also look to work closely with the G7 to strengthen our economic security.
The UK will also ensure that the G7 can play its part in ensuring an effective response to the defining global challenges, including migration, climate change, development and the risks posed by emerging critical technologies such as frontier Artificial Intelligence.