Ukraine: UK Security Guarantee

Baroness Smith of Newnham Excerpts
Thursday 5th June 2025

(2 days, 18 hours ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Smith of Newnham Portrait Baroness Smith of Newnham (LD)
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My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, I am strongly committed to Europe—we set up Cambridge for Europe together. However, I wonder what the Minister thinks the message would be to our friends and partners in eastern Europe, particularly the Baltic states and Poland, if we were somehow to turn away from Ukraine or send a message from this place that we are somehow not united—because we need to be united.

Baroness Chapman of Darlington Portrait Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
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The noble Baroness makes an excellent point, and it is important that we remind ourselves about this. That counts for now, and it also counts after any ceasefire is achieved. We need to remember that Russia instigated this and, if we allow this to go unchecked or for there to be any kind of reward for this aggression, we cannot be confident that this would be the last time that we would see this kind of action from Russia.