Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to President Biden's recent comments on alleged corruption in Ukraine, whether the UK Government is making an assessment of the potential merits of taking additional steps to help support anti-corruption activities in Ukraine.

Corruption remains a major threat to Ukraine's stability and national security. The UK is supporting a range of anti-corruption programmes in Ukraine, through the Good Governance and Conflict, Stability and Security Funds. The UK has also invested significantly in the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and supported the establishment of the High Anti-Corruption Court. These are critical pieces of the anti-corruption machinery, which should make a significant contribution to preventing, investigating and punishing corruption. It is imperative that anti-corruption institutions are strengthened and allowed to work free from political interference. This is a message that we continue to give to Ukrainian interlocutors, bilaterally and through our chairing of the G7 Ambassadors' reform group in Kyiv. I welcome the opportunity to further discuss these issues with the Ukrainian government, civil society and international partners, when I attend the Vilnius hosted Ukraine Reform Conference on 7/8 July this year.