The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is speaking now. We must ensure Putin fails, she says.
She says she admires the courage of the Baltic states who have long lived in the shadow of Russian aggression.
We have two clear objectives, she says. First, Putin must lose in Ukraine and we’re helping Ukraine with defensive weapons to stop Russian tanks but we need to do more, she says.
Second, we’re reinforcing Nato’s eastern flank and supporting European security through the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, she says.
Nadine Dorries has also told MPs she has called on Unesco to bar Russia from hosting its annual world heritage conference in June.
The culture secretary said that if it goes ahead, the UK “will not be attending”.
It’s why I called on Unesco to bar Russia from hosting its annual world heritage conference in June.
It’s absolutely inconceivable that this event could go ahead in Putin’s country as he fires missiles at innocent civilians in neighbouring Ukraine.
If it does go ahead, the UK will not be attending.
And it’s why I urged the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) yesterday to urgently rethink its decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete. This pressure works.
The IPC’s decision was the wrong call. And I welcome the fact that overnight they have listened and have reversed that decision this morning.
Nadine Dorries also said that Ofcom is now reviewing whether to revoke Russia Today’s broadcast licence entirely.
The culture secretary told the Commons that Vladimir Putin “must not be allowed to exploit our open and free media to spread poisonous propaganda into British homes”.
She added:
And that is why I wrote to Ofcom last week urging them to examine any potential breaches of the broadcasting code.
Ofcom has since opened 27 investigations into RT, and they are now reviewing whether to revoke RT’s licence entirely.
In the meantime, those investigations have been taken over by events and I was very glad to see yesterday that the channel is now officially off air on British televisions, after it shut down on Sky, Freeview and Freesat.
Reiterating what she wrote for the Telegraph (paywall) on Wednesday, Nadine Dorries has told MPs Vladimir Putin is “suffering a sporting and cultural Siberia” that will be causing him “real pain”.
She said that culture was “the third front” in the war in Ukraine, as she outlined the sporting and cultural bans that Russia had faced.
The culture secretary told the Commons:
Putin is now suffering a sporting and cultural Siberia of its own making, and it will be causing the Russian leader real pain.
Dorries said she had recently made the UK’s position on Russia’s participation in international sports events clear to sports bodies, telling them:
Russia should be stripped of hosting international sporting events and Russian teams should not be allowed to compete abroad.
Across sports, across the arts and entertainment we are ostracising Putin off the global stage.
Truss was also asked at the press conference what can be done to achieve a “humanitarian corridor” to help people fleeing Ukraine, and ensure medical supplies reach the most vulnerable.
She told reporters in Lithuania:
Well, you are absolutely right about the dire situation, and the United Kingdom has sent teams to the border to assist, particularly in Poland, but also in other countries facing those issues.
I was in Geneva … the day before yesterday, meeting the UN and others to talk about making sure a humanitarian corridor is established for the safe passage of aid and humanitarian support.
Liz Truss has said the west needs to “get the information” to the Russian people about what is “actually happening” in Ukraine in the face of reports from state-owned media at home.
The UK foreign secretary told the press conference in Lithuania she did not believe that president Vladimir Putin “speaks on behalf of Russian people”.
She said:
What we have seen over the last week is some very brave people in Russia protesting, standing up against the regime.
And we need to make sure that we get the information to them about what is actually happening.
It is much harder to control information in the world of social media.
And we need to make sure, as I’ve said, that the Russian economy is crippled so it is unable to continue to fund Putin and the war machine.
And I suspect that the Russian people will draw their own conclusions from that.
Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, is speaking now. He says we must continue supporting Ukraine in any way we can, diplomatically, politically, economically and militarily.
We must stop Russia from further aggression, through sanctions and diplomatic pressure, he says.
We need to close loopholes and continue to apply further economic sanctions against Russia, but the same sanctions must be applied to Belarus which is complicit and could be used by Russia to avoid some of the harshest effects of sanctions, he says.
We must respond in terms of regional security in eastern flank nations, he says.
We all understand we will see such challenging situations as long as there is the current leadership in Russia so we must be prepared for a very long engagement, he says.
Estonia’s foreign minister Eva-Maria Liimets is speaking now. We must continue to support Ukraine politically, financially and to defend their sovereignty and the lives of their people, she says.
Ukraine is on the frontline protecting European values, she says, adding we must support its candidacy to join the EU.
To help stop the war, we must continue to raise the cost of war for Russia, she says.
We must use all political means to hold the aggressor accountable for war crimes, she says.
The UK was the first European country to give defensive military support to Ukraine and is the top European donor, pledging £200m in humanitarian aid support to Ukraine, Truss says.
We’ve also been at the forefront in sanctions against Russia and it’s vital that we keep our foot on the gas, she says.
We need to go further, making sure no Russian bank has access to Swift and reducing dependency on hydrocarbons from Russia including oil, gas and coal, she says.
Truss says she will raise these issues at the G7 on Friday and at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
She says this is a struggle not just for Ukraine’s freedom and self-determination, but for all of our freedom and security.
By continuing to respond with strengths we will together ensure that Putin loses, she says.
The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is speaking now. We must ensure Putin fails, she says.
She says she admires the courage of the Baltic states who have long lived in the shadow of Russian aggression.
We have two clear objectives, she says. First, Putin must lose in Ukraine and we’re helping Ukraine with defensive weapons to stop Russian tanks but we need to do more, she says.
Second, we’re reinforcing Nato’s eastern flank and supporting European security through the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, she says.
Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is talking now. He says they have discussed ways to support Ukraine, including financial support for Ukraine and economic sanctions against Russia, and these cannot be “half steps”.
He says it also must not be forgotten that Belarus is a counterpart in Russia’s aggression.
As I mentioned earlier, Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, is giving a joint press conference at the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alongside Estonian foreign minister Eva-Maria Liimets, Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs and Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
It’s about to begin, there will soon be a live stream at the top of the blog. You can also watch it here.
Source: Guardian
