Ukraine

Caroline Nokes Excerpts

Thursday 18th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I thank my hon. Friend and his Committee for the work that they have done over the past 12 months in support of our service personnel and our allies, not just in Ukraine but across the world. We continue to work alongside our European partners to look at how we can use the immobilised sovereign Russian assets; indeed, we are undertaking discussions on that very topic today. There is strong support from the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Defence Secretary for progress on this issue, and we are seeing more progress from our European allies.

I hope that we will continue to make progress, because the case that my hon. Friend makes about Russia paying for the damage that it has caused, and about the cost that it has inflicted on the Ukrainian people, is absolutely right. We need to continue to make that case, especially as we get towards what I hope will be a peace deal that brings a just and lasting peace. It needs to be a fair peace, in which the voices of the Ukrainian people are heard very clearly.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)]

I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. Most Members of this House recognise that Vladimir Putin has no interest in securing a just peace for Ukraine. The only peace he will accept is one that carves up Ukraine and leaves it defenceless against future Russian invasion. I welcome the steps that the Government have taken to apply more pressure on Putin, and I encourage Ministers to go further.

As the Minister has pointed out, Putin’s oil profits are still propping up his war machine. They will continue to serve as a lifeline to the Russian economy until the UK, together with our international partners, turns the screw more tightly. Has the Minister considered the Liberal Democrats’ call to work with G7 partners to lower the oil price cap to $30 a barrel, which could cut more than a third off Putin’s oil profits?

Donald Trump has become another vital lifeline for Vladimir Putin, as he remains fixated on rewarding the Kremlin’s illegal invasion by pressuring Ukraine into giving up unconquered land in the Donbas. Reports now suggest that Trump is trying to block the UK and Europe from seizing frozen Russian assets, despite the transformative leverage that they could give Ukraine by funding new weapons. Can the Minister confirm that the Government will not allow Trump to block efforts to seize those assets? Can he confirm whether the Government will seize the £30 billion-worth of assets in this country, which estimates suggest could fund half of Ukraine’s military budget for 2026?

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[Luke Pollard]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his comments. I agree that it is important that we make progress on the seized Russian assets. Those negotiations and discussions are continuing today, and I hope that we will be able to report positive news in due course. He is right about the threat not just to Ukraine, but to our NATO allies along the eastern flank. It is for that reason that the UK has deployed forces and Typhoon jets in support of our allies. We are supporting our Estonian allies through Op Cabrit and the presence of the British Army’s forward land forces, and we will continue to do so.

I recognise what my right hon. Friend said about the importance of making sure that we can be proud of the measures that we are taking as a country to stand up against money laundering and illicit finances. We have made good progress, but my colleagues in the Treasury will continue to look at new avenues to clamp down on illicit finance. We hope that peace comes soon to Ukraine, but the threat from Russia will not end when peace comes.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call the Father of the House.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

I agree with the Minister that we have to work on a cross-party basis on this issue, because that is how we are strongest, so can we agree on the following two points? First, it would be intolerable if any peace settlement forced Ukraine to give up territory that Russia has not already conquered forcibly and if Ukraine gave up its fortress belt. It would be like stripping Czechoslovakia of Sudetenland and leaving it defenceless.

The second point is even more important. We cannot have a peace settlement through warm words alone; we must have a commitment that Ukraine’s defence is protected by the equivalent of an article 5 declaration. The only thing that will deter Putin is knowing that if he invades again, there will be war with the west and we will win. Can we unite on those two powerful points?

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[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I will take it provided that it pertains to the statement we have just had.

[Mr Francois]

Absolutely; it does pertain to the statement. We had been hoping for a Christmas present in the form of a defence investment plan. The Minister has told the House that the Government are working, in his words, flat out—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. This is not a point of order.

[Mr Francois]

It is—it is about when it will be delivered.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

The right hon. Gentleman is seeking to extend the debate we have just had on a separate matter. He will know that that is not a point of order, and it is not a matter for the Chair whether the MOD is going to bring forward—

[James Cartlidge (South Suffolk) (Con)]

To the House.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

It is simply not a matter for the Chair. It does not pertain to the statement.