UK stands with Ukraine

VICKY FORD

NEXT WEEK the United Kingdom will have a new prime minister. One thing that will not change, however, is the UK’s support for Ukraine. This is fundamentally about standing up for the values on which the world depends: sovereignty, self-determination and security.

The UK will continue to do everything it can with our friends and allies to help the Ukrainian people, whether it is supplying the weapons they need to defend their homeland, providing economic and humanitarian support, or helping ensure those responsible for heinous war crimes face justice.

The Ukrainian people are bearing the brunt of Russia’s aggression. But the whole world is suffering from the fallout due to the heavy impact on global food and energy prices.

This is the direct consequence of the Kremlin’s callous campaign. Russian troops have been blockading Ukrainian ports, shelling civilian infrastructure, and preventing Ukraine from exporting most of its produce. Until Russia’s invasion in February, Ukraine was one of the largest exporters of grains and vegetable oils, exporting grain to meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

The recent UN-brokered agreement is allowing the resumption of maritime grain exports from Ukraine, but it is only necessary due to the unprovoked and illegal invasion launched by Putin. Russia has shown its willingness to use food as a weapon of war, which can only strengthen the need to end this brutality.

The war has significantly worsened the cost-of-living crisis: 47 million people are one step away from famine across 82 countries, and close to one million are already experiencing famine-like conditions, because of the ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In Latin America, this will have its own specific and dire consequences.

For example, the International Fertilizer Association has confirmed that there will be higher levels of food insecurity in 2023. High demand, covid19-related supply chain disruptions and high fertiliser production costs caused fertiliser prices to increase by 30 per cent since January. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated this, by causing the already high prices to rise steeply.

The sanctions we have put in place alongside our allies did not target food or fertiliser exports from Russia to third countries. If sanctions were a significant factor behind recent food price spikes, as Russia claims, we would have seen a dramatic fall in Russian grain exports. But this is not the case.

In fact, it is Russia that has increased its own export restrictions for grain and fertilisers, deliberately driving up prices in the process by removing as much as 15 per cent of the global supply. If fertiliser shortages continue, the food crisis will worsen over the coming months.

The UK stands firmly with those countries and people affected by this crisis. We will invest over £370 million in food security this year, including £130 million for the World Food Programme.

We know that without this help millions more people will face hunger, famine and even death, as a direct result of Putin’s actions.

That is why the UK, and our next prime minister, will remain committed to helping Ukraine – and mitigating the worse consequences of Russia’s aggression.

As a free and democratic country, Ukraine has the right to determine its own future. The UK will stand up for the Ukrainian Government’s rights as a legitimate, democratically elected government. We are committed to supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity within internationally recognised borders.

We must never let countries attempt to rewrite borders by force or against the will of the people.

As close friends and partners with Trinidad and Tobago, we can stand together in condemning Putin’s aggression, increasing the pressure on Russia until its forces leave, and tackling some of the devastating impacts that this war has forced upon all of us.

Together, we can stand up for a world where nations are free to determine their path in peace. In doing so, we can forge ahead to a freer, safer and brighter future for all our people.

Vicky Ford is the Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and an MP