Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will make urgent representations to the (a) Government of Russia and (b) UN on reports of the recent escalation in bombardment of civilians in Eastern Ghouta.

The UK works closely with the UN on all aspects of Syria policy and has discussed the situation on the ground, including the situation in Eastern Ghouta, with UN representatives regularly. We also raise the situation on the ground at every opportunity with Russian interlocutors through our Embassy in Moscow, discussions in the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group Task Forces in Geneva. We have raised the the appalling situation in Eastern Ghouta with urgency will continue to call on Russia to use its influence to stop these atrocities.