Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Russia on the detention and prosecution of Ukrainian sailors taken into custody off the Crimean peninsula on 25 November 2018.

The Foreign Office has raised this issue with the Russian Government. On 30 November alongside G7 Foreign Ministers, the Foreign Secretary publicly called on Russia to release the 24 detained Ukrainian servicemen and their vessels. We have also repeatedly made clear to senior Russian officials, bilaterally and through multilateral fora, that the Russian authorities must immediately release the crew, return their vessels and allow unhindered access through the Kerch Straits. The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed the UK's solidarity with Ukraine and discussed the welfare of the detained crew during his 29 November call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin.