Repurposing Russian Assets to Rebuild Ukraine

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

Following the comments that all Members have made, I am sure we all agree that Russia’s appalling assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign democratic state. Our Government, through their actions, have illustrated that they are completely committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight to liberate the country.

We are all supporting Ukraine, as we are the world’s second-largest military donor, with this Government having given £2.3 billion in military aid. This year we have given a total of £9.3 billion of humanitarian, economic and military support. We are also training many Ukrainian pilots and troops in the UK and offering sanctuary to well over 230,000 Ukrainians. I am proud to say that many of them have made Keighley, Ilkley and other parts of my constituency their home, and I have been pleased to meet many of them.

We are also punishing Putin’s regime with the most severe set of sanctions that Russia has ever seen. We are sanctioning over 1,500 individuals and entities, and freezing £275 billion of their personal assets. Those sanctions are specifically designed to deal a severe blow to the Russian economy, hobble Russia’s military-industrial complex and punish Putin and his allies, including 120 oligarchs worth over £140 billion combined.

In addition to those sanctions, we have ended imports of Russian coal and oil, cutting off a key source of funding for Putin’s regime, while limiting the impact on our consumers. We have also stopped the export of high-end luxury goods to Russia and sanctioned Putin and his political allies, including Sergei Lavrov, hitting the Kremlin regime at its heart. We are working, too, in lockstep with allies to exclude Russian banks from the SWIFT financial system. Our sanctions hit not only Russia but it allies in Belarus. We are sanctioning Belarus for aiding and abetting Russia’s illegal invasion, making sure not only Russia but its allies feel the economic consequences of support for Putin.

Of course, our sanctions are only one part of what we are doing as a country. We have also provided much military support for Ukraine, including by donating Storm Shadow missiles, giving it the long-range strike capabilities it needs to defeat Russia and liberate its country. We will deliver £2.3 billion of military support this year in addition to the Challenger 2 tanks and self-propelled guns we have already provided, and the hundreds of armoured vehicles and advanced missiles that we provided last year and at the beginning of this year. We have also committed to train 20,000 Ukrainian troops this year, building on the success of the training programmes we have put in place which saw 11,000 Ukrainian troops trained last year, and we have provided £4.7 billion in economic and humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people.

The Prime Minister took part last week in the Ukraine recovery conference, at which he secured well over £60 billion of combined support from other countries, galvanising international backing for Ukraine in the face of Putin’s ongoing attacks. The conference raised that money to go towards Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction from nearly 500 countries as well as the G7 and EU member states. That is on top of our announcing last week a multi-year financial support package worth over £2.5 billion for Ukraine, helping Ukrainians win the war.

One year on, this Government are absolutely illustrating that we remain committed more than ever to making sure Putin’s barbaric venture will fail, and we will continue Ukraine’s fight as long as it takes until the war criminal Putin is brought to justice.

--- Later in debate ---

[Leo Docherty]

I will not commit right now, but I can give an assurance to the hon. Gentleman and the House that we are working at pace, as we recognise that this is an urgent issue. Urgent is what we will be and do, in terms of pushing the business forward.

On a similar theme, the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth made some interesting comments about the United Nations General Assembly resolution ES-11/1. We note that resolution and recognise that there are interesting parallels that might be considered with regards to the situation post-war, vis-à-vis Iraq and Kuwait. Of course we will consider that, as we do all other options.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned the Canadian model. For the clarification of the House, the Canadians use the term “seizure” for freezing. Like the UK, Canada is not yet able to test the lawfulness of any potential seizing fully, as we understand it, through their court system. They have the legislative start, but it has not yet been legally tested. We will keep in touch with our Canadian colleagues as they move forward. He asked what role the Attorney General, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Banbury (Victoria Prentis), might have. He will know that she is much vested in this matter. She has visited Kyiv to look at accountability issues and she will keep colleagues updated as she reviews those issues.

[Robbie Moore]

In my speech, I mentioned that the Prime Minister had attended the Ukraine recovery conference last week. Does the Minister agree that that demonstrates that the Prime Minister and the Government are taking world leadership on the issue, by bringing together countries from across the world, including EU member states and G7 states, to commit at least £2.5 billion as part of the recovery package for Ukraine, once the war has finished?

[Leo Docherty]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Last week was a remarkable show of the convening power of the UK, the tremendous resolve of our Ukrainian friends and the remarkable scale of global support, not just in military hard power but in global capital. When that global capital is mobilised to help Ukraine resurrect itself, that will, in tandem with the military effort, lead to a Ukraine that is sovereign and able to resist all potential future threats. Last week was a great success, but there is more work to do.

Finally, let me say to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth that I am grateful for his reflections on his visit to Ukraine. His insights into the scale of the destruction are very welcome. I am grateful also that he mentioned the HALO Trust, which does heroic work to expedite de-mining. It is 30 years of work, and we are proud to be putting some of our investment into that. It is money extremely well spent. It also speaks to the horrendous scale of environmental damage that has been wreaked right across the country. I am very grateful overall for the hon. Member’s constructive tones.

I should reassure the House that our sanctions have inflicted a severe cost up until this point on Putin for his outrageous imperialist ambitions. In collaboration with key partners, we have now sanctioned more than 1,600 individuals, including 130 oligarchs. We have frozen more than £18 billion-worth of assets in the UK and sanctioned more than £20 billion-worth of UK-Russia goods trade. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes in that regard.

[Leo Docherty]

It is taking a long time because it is very complex. There is no straightforward legal route. No other nation has yet come up with a tested legal proposition despite legislative activity. We are therefore moving in tandem with our allies to expedite and find a route, but if it were very simple, we would have done it already.

Through the G7 leaders’ statements, we have been very clear that the perpetrator should pay. We have underlined our continued commitment to that objective by introducing new legislation to enable us to keep sanctions in place until Russia compensates Ukraine. Nothing is off the table, as I have already said today, and we continue to work with our international partners on the options for using sanctions for reconstruction purposes. However, of course, if it is not legal, it is not viable and therefore not useful.

[Robbie Moore]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Of course, the whole purpose of imposing sanctions is to stifle the economic drive that Russia is undoubtedly using to fund its aggression against Ukraine. Can my hon. Friend confirm that he and the Government are using their ability to encourage other allies to keep their sanctions in place and to take their lead from us?

[Leo Docherty]

That is a very relevant and good point. We have made the point to colleagues around the world that all allies must stand together to prevent circumvention, because economies more connected and more proximate to Russia face severe economic impact. We do work with allies to ensure compliance and also to prevent circumvention.

As we saw last week, the new measures that were announced during the Ukraine recovery conference marked a significant step forward to driving Ukraine’s reconstruction through a number of different ways. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary emphasised the UK’s continued commitment to ensuring that Russia pays for the reconstruction of Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary announced fresh action to increase the pressure on Putin and his supporters through a series of key measures: first, the new legislation, which I have referred to, enabling us to maintain the sanctions on Russia until Moscow pays compensation to Ukraine; secondly, the development of a route to allow sanctioned individuals to volunteer their money to go to Ukraine to help reconstruction; and, thirdly, under the sanctions regime, delivering a new requirement for sanctioned individuals and entities to disclose assets they hold in the UK.



That, in the round, will ensure that we drive forward, that the perpetrator pays and that we can help our Ukrainian friends to rebuild their magnificent country.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House condemns Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine; stands in solidarity with Ukrainians in their resistance to Russia’s invasion of their sovereign state; recognises the enormous damage that Russia’s invasion has caused to Ukraine’s infrastructure, economy and institutions; commends the recent commitments made by the Government to support Ukraine’s recovery during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023; and calls on the Government to present a Bill before this House within 90 days to allow frozen Russian state assets held in the UK to be repurposed for Ukraine’s recovery.