Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with their counterparts in third party countries that (a) have not sanctioned Russia over its war in Ukraine and (b) import UK produced goods on ensuring that UK manufactured products within the sanctions regime are not transferred or sold onto Russia.
Answered by Leo Docherty
In close coordination with our allies, we continue to engage extensively with countries across the world to urge them to support our effort to deprive Putin's war machine of the goods and services it needs to continue its illegal invasion. This includes countries which do not impose autonomous sanctions. In addition to banning the direct export of hundreds of goods to Russia, we have also prohibited UK persons from directly or indirectly supplying these goods from a third country to Russia.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the public statement on Twitter from the Russian embassy in the UK issued on 29 July 2022 at 8pm, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of expelling all Russian diplomatic staff; whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the compatibility of remarks in that statement with international law; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The exploitation and use of prisoners of war for political purposes is an assault on the freedoms and values we believe in. We will ensure those responsible are held to account and will continue to consider options in concert with our allies. Having Russian representatives in the UK allows us to deliver clear and tough messages directly to Putin's government. Following the Salisbury attack in 2018, we expelled twenty three intelligence officers posing as Russian diplomats. Since then we have continued to maintain a zero-tolerance approach to illegal Russian activity.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the UK unilaterally treating Russian diamonds as conflict diamonds under the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Kimberley Process (KP) Certificate Scheme was originally designed to combat the trade in conflict diamonds, defined as rough diamonds being sold by rebel groups to fund conflict. While conflict diamonds now represent less than 1 per cent of the global trade in rough diamonds, the narrow definition of conflict diamonds means the KP's ability to deliver on other issues is limited. The UK supports updating the definition of a conflict diamond so the Kimberley Process is better able to address the different types of conflict and actors of those conflicts, and will continue to play a role in discussions within the KP on this and other challenges it faces.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her international counterparts on the potential merits of treating Russian diamonds as conflict diamonds under the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Kimberley Process (KP) Certificate Scheme was originally designed to combat the trade in conflict diamonds, defined as rough diamonds being sold by rebel groups to fund conflict. While conflict diamonds now represent less than 1 per cent of the global trade in rough diamonds, the narrow definition of conflict diamonds means the KP's ability to deliver on other issues is limited. The UK supports updating the definition of a conflict diamond so the Kimberley Process is better able to address the different types of conflict and actors of those conflicts, and will continue to play a role in discussions within the KP on this and other challenges it faces.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has had recent discussions with representatives of semiconductor manufacturers on preventing products used in domestic appliances that can also be used in defence materials from entering Russian supply chains.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises the importance of semiconductor chips to underpin military capabilities. The UK Government has laid legislation to ban the export to Russia of goods and technology, including semiconductors, that are critical to Russia's military-industrial complex.
Sanctions on Russia imposed by the UK and its international partners are already having deep and damaging consequences for Putin's ability to wage war. The Government is implementing its new controls through the UK's export control regime and is continuing to monitor the impact of these sanctions as the conflict progresses.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if officials in her Department will hold discussions with representatives of UK semi-conductor manufacturers on (a) monitoring and cataloguing reports of UK semi-conductor usage within materials used by Russian military forces during the conflict in Ukraine, (b) ensuring all reports of UK semi-conductors in such materials are fully investigated and (c) halting the supply of semi-conductors to manufacturers where their products are used by Russian military forces for the invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises the importance of semiconductor chips to underpin military capabilities. The UK Government has laid legislation to ban the export to Russia of goods and technology, including semiconductors, that are critical to Russia's military-industrial complex.
Sanctions on Russia imposed by the UK and its international partners are already having deep and damaging consequences for Putin's ability to wage war. The Government is implementing its new controls through the UK's export control regime and is continuing to monitor the impact of these sanctions as the conflict progresses.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the East African Community (EAC) on the impact of UK-Rwanda relations on regional security following the signing of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, in the context of the EAC's regional force's announced deployment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to combat M23.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In recent weeks we have raised our concerns about the increase in violence, hate speech and increased movement of armed groups with the Governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and Rwanda, as well as the leadership of the UN Peacekeeping Mission, MONUSCO. The UK engages frequently and at a senior level with the Partner States of the East African Community (EAC) on regional security issues through our missions, and in the UK. The Prime Minister discussed these issues with Rwandan President Kagame during CHOGM last week and I [Minister Ford] most recently spoke with the Rwandan Foreign Minister on 16 June and the DRC Minister for Planning on 24 June to re-iterate the need for all sides to continue to work together to deliver de-escalation on the ground and an end to hate speech.
The UK is committed to supporting regional efforts to build stability and reduce violence in DRC, and we welcome the recent meeting of regional Heads of State in Nairobi towards this end. We will continue to closely monitor the situation, including developments on the deployment of the EAC's regional force.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with his Rwandan counterparts on (a) the resurgence in violence by M23 and (b) regional security in Central Africa.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In recent weeks we have raised our concerns about the increase in violence, hate speech and increased movement of armed groups with the Governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and Rwanda, as well as the leadership of the UN Peacekeeping Mission, MONUSCO. The UK engages frequently and at a senior level with the Partner States of the East African Community (EAC) on regional security issues through our missions, and in the UK. The Prime Minister discussed these issues with Rwandan President Kagame during CHOGM last week and I [Minister Ford] most recently spoke with the Rwandan Foreign Minister on 16 June and the DRC Minister for Planning on 24 June to re-iterate the need for all sides to continue to work together to deliver de-escalation on the ground and an end to hate speech.
The UK is committed to supporting regional efforts to build stability and reduce violence in DRC, and we welcome the recent meeting of regional Heads of State in Nairobi towards this end. We will continue to closely monitor the situation, including developments on the deployment of the EAC's regional force.