Thank you, Mister Chair. Last week I felt the need to reply to allegations made by our Russian colleagues in this forum that the UK was somehow invested in prolonging their war against Ukraine. I did so because that is genuinely incorrect and I wanted to correct the misrepresentation. Let me explain in more detail.
The UK does not want this war to continue. This has been a truly awful conflict. We have seen death, injury and destruction on a scale not witnessed in Europe for eighty years. I shouldn’t have to repeat this after more than three long years of regularly demanding an end to this war repeatedly in this forum but let me say it again the UK wants this war to end without delay. But the way in which it ends should matter to us all. And none of us need a history lesson to know why.
Russia believes it is entitled to a sphere of influence in its neighbourhood, a belief that runs against the letter and spirit of the Helsinki Final Act. It has a long track record of establishing frozen conflicts on its periphery which it uses as tools to manipulate and control by dialling up and down the temperature to increase or decrease the levels of political and military instability. This has to stop. It cannot be allowed to repeat this in Ukraine; both because Russia has no right to do so, but also because it almost guarantees a return to war at some point in the future.
The best insurance against further bloodshed is a peace that offers Ukraine the prospect of genuine security, deters Russia from further aggression and that respects the UN Charter and the commitments we all made in the Helsinki Final Act. To allow anything else would be to encourage aggression elsewhere. And an erosion of these laws and norms risks instability for us all. None of us would truly benefit from this outcome, including Russia, even if they fail to see this now.
This is not an attempt to deliver a “strategic defeat” on Russia it is neither UK policy nor strategy to seek regime change in Russia. It is not the UK who launched little green men into Crimea in 2014. It is not the UK who launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour. And it is not the UK who talks peace but wages war. And just to be really clear, it is not “rabid Russophobia” we take no issue with the Russian people whose sons and daughters are paying the ultimate price in shockingly high numbers. This is about supporting Ukraine’s self-defence against an unprovoked attack and about defending the commitments that, if respected, are there to keep us all safe.
We welcome the important contributions that the US and Türkiye have made in moving us towards a just and lasting peace. The direct talks in Istanbul on 16 May were a first step, and we welcome the agreement between Russia and Ukraine to exchange one thousand prisoners of war each. But to create space for serious talks, and to bring an end to the killing as quickly as possible, we urge Russia to agree to an immediate, complete and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, just as Ukraine has done. If Russia does not engage seriously with this process, we are prepared to ratchet up the pressure on Russia with new sanctions, building on our package earlier this week. Not because we want to delay peace, but because we want to pressure Russia to choose peace. For after all, it is Russia’s choice.
Thank you.
