Thursday, March 03, 2022

I'm ashamed of Britain's response to Ukraine invasion, says Labour MP


Labour MP Chris Bryant has said he is 'ashamed' of the UK's response the the Ukraine crisis. (Parliament)

A Labour MP has said he is "ashamed" of the UK's response to the Ukraine crisis and called for sanctions against the UK's wealthy Russian oligarchs and Vladimir Putin's Kremlin colleagues.

Chris Bryant, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia, said the UK hasn't done enough with its sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He told MPs: "Putin is the only enemy.

"But I do feel ashamed. The United Kingdom signed the Budapest Accord in 1994 guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The UK government has issued sanctions against Vladimir Putin and defence minister Sergei Lavrov, but Bryant said other high-profile leaders in the Kremlin have been unaffected.

Read more: Ruthless Putin 'knows no limit' and will indiscriminately carpet bomb Ukrainian cities, UK warns

Both men's assets have been frozen across the US, EU, UK and Canada and each have been banned from entering the US.

Bryant said the UK needs to go further with who the measures are targeting.

"We are not guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine," he said.

"I don't want war, nobody wants war, but we're not even sanctioning Sergei Shoygu, the Russian defence minister yet, nor Igor Osipov, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet," he said.


Russian president Vladimir Putin pictured on Wednesday, as his attempted invasion of Ukraine enters its seventh day. (Getty)

The MP for Rhondda went on to name other individuals including Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, adding: “Why don’t we use parliamentary privilege to get this out there so the lawyers can’t attack the sanctions that we must surely bring, rapidly, today?”

His comments came after the UK defence secretary Ben Wallace warned Putin "doesn't really care" about sanctions,

In response, Boris Johnson said we "simply have to accept” that no Western nation will become militarily involved in the fight.

He added: “Because the consequences of a direct confrontation between the UK and Russia would be I think, and indeed other Western countries and Russia, would not be easy to control.

"And if I can repeat the point I made earlier, I think they would play directly into Putin’s narrative.”

During Prime Minister's Questions, Johnson was also quizzed on what the UK is doing to help with the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are feeling Ukraine in the hope of surviving Putin's onslaught.


SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on the PM to'waive all visa requirements for the people Ukraine who are fleeing war'. (Getty)

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on the PM to “waive all visa requirements for the people Ukraine who are fleeing war".

But Johnson was hesitant to committing to saying all refugees would be let in, despite pressure from the opposite benches.

“What we won’t do is simply abandon all checks," he said.

"We don’t think that, that is sensible, particularly in view of the security concerns, the reasonable security concerns about people coming from that theatre of war.”

On Tuesday Johnson announced more than 200,000 Ukrainians could be allowed to join family in the UK - twice the amount previously given.

Read more: Russia launches nuclear submarine drills after Putin puts them on high alert

Ukrainian nationals fleeing the conflict in their country queue to pass through border control upon arrival at the Paris-Beauvais Airport in France. (Getty)

Russia has continued its attack on Ukraine, seen is the city of Kharkiv. (Getty)

A burnt-out car is seen on the street after a missile in Kharkiv. (Getty)

Speaking during a visit to Poland, he said the government would "make it easier for Ukrainians already living in the UK to bring their relatives to our country".

Ukraine on Wednesday entered its seventh day of a sustained assault from Russian forces, and have so far targeted built-up areas in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv, but have been largely held by Ukrainian armed forces as well as citizens, many of whom have taken up arms.

In Kyiv, Tuesday evening's missile strike on a TV Tower killed five people while a 40 mile-long convoy of soldiers is on its way towards the capital, though US officials have claimed it has made little progress in the past 24 hours, frozen in place by logistical and supply problems.

Fears of nuclear war were stoked by Russian defence minister Sergei Lavrov, who warned that any world war sparked by the current crisis "will become nuclear".

No comments: