We have all watched with horror as Vladmir Putin, without any provocation or justification, launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine. Together with allies around the world, the UK is coordinating a military, economic, and humanitarian response and I wish to use my column this week to set out exactly how.
As the Ukrainian military repels Russian forces, it is drawing on the UK’s support. We have trained over 22,000 troops through Operation ORBITAL and supplied thousands of anti-armour missiles, contributing to the loss of over a thousand Russian tanks and armoured vehicles. Further defensive weapons have been sent since, and the Defence Secretary has hosted a conference of 25 countries to coordinate future military donations.
There are some calls for direct intervention to implement a ‘no-fly zone’ over Ukraine, but senior military advisers are clear that such a measure would be counter-productive. Enforcement would risk dragging NATO into a shooting war with Russian forces under Article 5, bringing more death and destruction. Moreover, intelligence shows that most Russian shelling of Ukrainian positions is coming from artillery, not aircraft.
The effectiveness of economic sanctions is more proven, as the West has cut ties with Russia’s economy. For our part, the Russian state is no longer able to raise funds in the UK, nor can it access the reserves it has stored here. Russian companies are similarly shut off from UK finance. Russian banks have had their assets frozen, their access to sterling blocked, and the UK successfully led calls for their exclusion from the payment messaging system, SWIFT. Exporting essential high-tech components to Russia has also been banned.
Taken together, these measures have sent the Russian economy into free fall. Russia’s GDP is now forecast to fall as much as 7%, its currency has experienced a historic fall, and billions have been wiped off the Russian stock market. We are sending a clear message that there is an immense price to be paid for aggression against a sovereign people.
Britain has also acted in solidarity with the Ukrainian people to pledge the largest bilateral donation of humanitarian aid. Earlier this week, the government pledged an extra £100 million in aid, bringing total support to around £400 million. The Prime Minister has worked to develop a coalition of international support, most recently meeting with the Canadian and Dutch Prime Ministers in London to form the International Ukraine Support Group.
Donations to the Disaster Emergency Committee Ukraine appeal are being matched by the government up to £20 million, in order to help provide essential supplies like emergency food, bedding, and hygiene supplies. If you wish to help Ukraine I would encourage you to donate to the DEC appeal as an alternative to in-kind donations. All matched donations can be made at: donation.dec.org.uk/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal.
Putin has shown himself to be reckless, aggressive and inhumane. He must ultimately fail in his aims, and we must go on as we have started: dutifully defending human dignity and freedom as a global force for good.
