Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have spent on (1) military, and (2) non-military, aid to Ukraine since February.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has committed a total of £2.3 billion for lethal and non-lethal military support to Ukraine this year. This makes us the second biggest donor of military aid (after the US).
The UK has committed £220 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, making us the third largest bilateral humanitarian donor (after the US and Germany). At end September 2022, 67% of this funding had been spent.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they plan to spend on (1) military, and (2) non-military, aid to Ukraine in 2023.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK continues to stand with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, including through committing £2.3 billion of military support this year. We have committed to meeting or exceeding our 2022 spend on military aid to Ukraine next year.
Funding arrangements for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine next financial year are yet to be finalised.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what diplomatic effort they are making to revive the Minsk Agreements.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
As G7 Foreign Ministers made clear in their 12 December statement, we support the efforts of France and Germany in the Normandy Format to achieve full implementation of the Minsk agreements in order to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The Prime Minister underlined to President Putin on 13 December that Russia had to respect the terms of the Minsk agreements. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK's support for the Minsk agreements in her 2 December meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and in her 8 December talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba. The UK regularly calls on Russia to end the conflict by immediately ceasing its support for the armed formations it backs, withdrawing its military personnel and weapons from the territory of Ukraine and fulfilling its obligations under the Minsk agreements.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the timescale for the repatriation of Afghan refugees who have supported the British mission in Afghanistan; and how they intend to achieve that repatriation, particularly for refugees located outside Kabul.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Our absolute priority has been to evacuate as many people as possible. However the terror attack outside the Kabul airport tragically demonstrates the complex and vulnerable situation that impacted operations on the ground. We will continue to do all we can to support British Nationals and those Afghans who have supported us, and to put pressure on the Taliban to allow safe passage. The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme remains open to anyone who is eligible, and we will work with international partners on establishing potential routes for those eligible for ARAP to get to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had within NATO to maintain an Alliance presence in Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We have spoken a number of NATO Allies in recent days about the situation in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister has spoken to US President Biden, French President Macron, German Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Rutte and the NATO Secretary General. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to his US, French, Dutch, Danish and Turkish counterparts. We continue to work closely with our partners to assess how to address risks concerning terrorism most effectively and will continue to be at the forefront of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to supply Taiwan with COVID-19 vaccines; and what is the timetable on any such plans.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK remains committed to equitable access to safe and effective vaccines and the Prime Minister has stated that we will share vaccines with COVAX and has called on G7 leaders to vaccinate the world by end of next year. We will continue to discuss this issue with our G7 partners and will issue details of the quantities and timeframe for sharing vaccine doses soon.
Taiwan has had one of the lowest incidences of Covid-19 in the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. We are continuing to engage with the relevant authorities locally through the British Office in Taipei as it faces its first significant occurrence of community transmission of the virus. Taiwan has so far received 609,600 doses through the COVAX platform. We will continue to work with all of our international partners to deliver a strong global response to the pandemic.