Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking in Eastern Ghouta; and if he will make a statement.

The UK supported UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2401, unanimously adopted on 24 February, which demands a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for delivery of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations which are urgently needed across Syria, particularly in eastern Ghouta. We have urged those with influence over the regime to ensure the ceasefire is implemented in full. On 27 February, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas The Rt Hon. Sir Alan Duncan MP met with the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, stressing UK concern at the current situation in Syria, particularly the crisis in eastern Ghouta. The Foreign Secretary also wrote to the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on 27 February regarding the crisis in eastern Ghouta and urging Russia to uphold its commitments to ensure that UNSCR 2401 is implemented in full. Most recently, the UK raised its concerns with Russia on 7 March in the UN Security Council. We also called for an Urgent Debate in the UN Human Rights Council on 2 March and proposed a resolution which the UN Human Rights Council adopted on 5 March calling for the full and immediate implementation of UNSCR 2401.