Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the use of a Russian shadow fleet to evade oil sanctions; and whether she (a) plans to restrict access to UK ports and services for such vessels and (b) is considering further sanctions on entities providing (i) insurance and (ii) financial services.

The Russia sanctions regime prohibits Russian ships, and other ships specified by the Secretary of State, from entering ports in the United Kingdom. We recently enhanced our powers to impose additional prohibitions when sanctioning vessels, including prohibitions of certain services, including insurance services, relating to specified ships. Our sanctions form one part of our broader efforts to tackle the shadow fleet. We assess that our efforts, alongside our partners, have contributed to an estimated 200 oil tankers ceasing their trade. These unused ships are costing Putin and his war effort billions in wasted funds.