Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to passing emergency legislation to prevent the use of trusts as a means of evading sanctions imposed on oligarchs.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have been moving at pace to sanction those propping up Putin's regime. Our sanctions since the invasion cover more than 1,200 Russian and Belarussian individuals, entities and subsidiaries at the heart of, or supporting, Putin's regime. This includes travel bans and asset freezes applied to Russia's leading oligarchs, with a combined worth in excess of £100 billion. Measures taken so far are historic and are having a real impact on Putin and his war machine. Nothing and no one is off the table.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) presence, and (2) active participation, of UK citizens in conflict zones in Ukraine; and what advice they provide to UK citizens regarding any potential legal consequences of such presence or participation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is not supporting British nationals going to Ukraine to fight in the conflict. We advise against travel to Ukraine and anyone who travels to conflict zones to engage in unlawful activity should expect to be investigated upon their return to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to a no-fly zone in Ukrainian airspace, limited to humanitarian corridors.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Enforcing a no-fly zone would very likely lead to direct combat between NATO and Russian jets. The risks of escalation would be extremely high, and the potential consequences would be catastrophic for the entire world - including Ukraine. A no-fly zone would also apply to Ukrainian aircraft, preventing them from attacking from the air and allowing the vast Russian ground forces to move around freely.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the freeze on the Central Bank of Russia’s external assets is not circumvented by transactions through central banks of other countries.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The measures introduced on 1 March against the Central Bank of Russia, the Russian National Wealth Fund and the Russian Ministry of Finance prevent UK persons from providing financial services related to foreign exchange reserves or asset management to these persons or persons acting on their behalf or their direction. This action was taken in coordination with the EU and the US, who have introduced similar restrictions. This will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its foreign reserves in ways that undermine the impact of sanctions imposed by us and our allies, and to undercut its ability to engage in foreign exchange transactions to support the Russian rouble.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have regarding the reported circumvention of sanctions on Russia by (1) India, and (2) Belarus.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In coordination with other countries, the UK is introducing the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced. We remain focussed on building the broadest coalition possible, including with India, to continue the severe economic pressure on President Putin.
As part of our response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Lukashenko regime is being made to feel the economic consequences for its support for Putin. The UK is working with our international partners to prevent those who fail to respect the rules-based international order from reaping its benefits.
Since 1 March, the Foreign Secretary has launched a series of sanctions on Belarusian individuals and organisations who have aided and abetted Russia's reckless aggression towards Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary has committed to going further. Our intention is to extend recent Russia sanctions to Belarus in due course.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to imposing sanctions on Belarus.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under our Belarus sanctions regime, which was in place prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have imposed sanctions on President Lukashenko and 117 other individuals and entities as well as trade, financial and aviation sanctions. In addition, on 1 March, the UK announced a first tranche of sanctions against Belarusian individuals and organisations in response to the role the country is playing in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including facilitating the invasion from within its borders. The Foreign Secretary has committed to going further and our intention is to extend recent Russia sanctions to Belarus in due course.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any sanctions imposed on Belarus by other countries.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to work in lockstep with international partners to coordinate sanctions as necessary, including on Belarus. As with all announcements on sanctions, the ultimate objective is to ensure that Putin fails in Ukraine. The whole of the UK Government, along with our international allies, is working to ensure that happens. The Lukashenko regime is being made to feel the economic consequences for its support for Putin.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the (1) curtailment, and (2) suspension, of overseas aid to India, in light of reports that India has facilitated circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has not provided any financial aid to the Government of India since 2015. Our work in India makes investments and deploys world-leading expertise in areas of mutual interest like tackling climate change. To date, approximately £80 million of our ODA investment has been returned to HMG.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff working at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at C5 level or above and working from the office on King Charles Street speak fluent Russian.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Language skills are critical to the FCDO's operation and Russian, as one of the FCDO's five top priority languages, is no exception to this. FCDO officers undertake full-time language training in preparation for roles overseas which require them to speak the local language (known as speaker slots). Although there are no formal 'speaker slot' roles based in King Charles Street, some roles in London (such as Research Analysts) will draw on language skills in their day to day work and officers returning from speaker slots are incentivised to maintain their language skills and 're-qualify' once their FCDO exam pass has expired (after 5 years).
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the reasons were for his Department's decision to withhold Diego Garcia flight records that were granted by EuroControl in June 2014.
Answered by Alan Duncan
A request for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was declined by the Department for Transport on the grounds that disclosure would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another State under section 27(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.