Penny Mordaunt
Main Page: Penny Mordaunt (Conservative - Portsmouth North)Department Debates - View all Penny Mordaunt's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(10 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Hague
Yes, I agree. All the words that the hon. Gentleman has used are important in that respect: in this situation, the nations of the European Union and the European Council when it meets on Thursday are required to be united, robust and calm. As I have explained to the House, the options for further measures are open. As I have also said, it is important that there should be costs to behaviour of this kind. I very strongly believe that.
Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)
What conclusions can be drawn from the fact that Russian troops in Crimea have not worn any marks of identification or insignia?
Mr Hague
That happened in the early stages of the Russian operation, and it was clearly designed to try to conceal the fact that it was a Russian operation. However, all such pretence was subsequently cast aside, because many thousands of Russian troops appear to have been deployed to Crimea. It shows that this was a well-planned, perhaps a long-planned, operation, and that it was put into force in a way that tried to minimise the reaction of the international community.