Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 October 2022.

Ian Stubbs (UK delegation to the OSCE) condemns Russian attempts to hide the truth of Putin’s appalling and failing illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Thank you Mr Chair. On 30th September, Putin announced the attempted illegal annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The United Kingdom unreservedly condemns this outrageous and illegitimate act. It represents yet another attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will never accept the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as anything other than sovereign Ukrainian territory.

Mr Chair, the announced attempted illegal annexation is just another act of desperation by a Russian leadership under pressure to fabricate a success to sell to their people as a price worth paying for the thousands of Russian service personnel who have been sent to their deaths to fight Putin’s illegal war of choice.

On 1 October, Russian forces in the Donetsk Oblast town of Lyman withdrew in the face of Ukrainian advances. Lyman is a significant loss for Russia. Militarily, it was Russia’s eastern logistics hub and also commanded a key road that crossed the Siversky Donets River behind which Russia was attempting to consolidate its defences. But the loss of Lyman is symbolically important for Russia too – situated within a region that Russia supposedly aimed to “liberate”; attempted to illegally annex; and that Putin promised would be Russian territory forever two days earlier. It is a clear demonstration of the stark mismatch between the Kremlin’s rhetoric and reality.

As Ukraine consolidates its advances further in the east and near Kherson in the south, it will become painfully apparent to the Russian people that Putin’s contrived fanfare of celebrations and concerts, which accompanied his announced attempts to illegally annex territory, were just part of another lie in his attempt to hide the disastrous truth of his appalling and failing illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Chair, as we have all seen, the Russian people are already realising that the announced “partial mobilisation” is also part of that sham – a desperate attempt to turn the tide of a failed invasion by sacrificing ordinary Russian citizens. On 29 September, just over a week after the mobilisation was announced, President Putin addressed his National Security Council and admitted that “a lot of questions are being raised during this mobilisation campaign, and we must promptly correct our mistakes and not repeat them.” This rather quick public acknowledgement of problems highlights the dysfunction of the mobilisation over its first week. Including that local officials have almost certainly drafted many Russian citizens who are outside the announced scope of the mobilisation. Numerous images and video of chaotic mobilisation centres support Putin’s own assessment that his mobilisation is not going well.

Mr Chair, the mobilisation of these Russian citizens will not turn the tide of this war in Putin’s favour. The thousands of ordinary citizens sent to war – poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly led – will not succeed where Russia’s professional army – with tanks, paratroopers and artillery – has already failed. And mobilisation is an admission that this is a war, you do not mobilise your population to fight a limited military operation, special or otherwise. You mobilise a population to fight a war – in this case Putin’s failing illegal war of choice.

Mr Chair, on 30 September, Russian forces almost certainly struck a convoy south-east of the town of Zaporizhzhia where local authorities report that 25 civilians were killed. The munition involved was likely a Russian long-range air defence missile being used in a ground attack role. We have unfortunately seen the use of high-value air-defence and anti-ship missile systems rerolled to strike ground targets, including civilians and civilian infrastructure before, such as the attack on the Kremenchuk shopping centre in June.

The strike on the convoy last week was an appalling, callous and cowardly attack at a location routinely used by civilians to assemble before travelling to areas of Ukraine under temporary Russian control to deliver aid and pick up relatives. That this strike happened on the same day President Putin signed the illegal annexation agreement for Zaporizhzhia and claimed that Russia would now protect those civilians is particularly deplorable.

The deliberate targeting of civilians is not only abhorrent, but also a blatant violation of international law. The atrocities we see being committed day after day will not be forgotten and those giving or following illegal orders will be held to account.

Mr Chair, Russia’s continued aggressive nuclear rhetoric and signalling is also irresponsible. It is designed to distract and deter us from supporting Ukraine. It achieves neither. We continue to call on Russia to de-escalate, starting by ceasing its assault on Ukraine and withdrawing its forces. We urge Russia to tone down its rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons. Russia should seek to reduce tensions and the risk of miscalculation, not increase them.

Mr Chair, the Russian Government’s attempt to redraw the map of Europe in blood, and conquer an independent and democratic State by force of arms is an attack on the security and freedom of Europe. The United Kingdom, along with many others, repeatedly warned that this would be a massive strategic mistake and would come at a severe cost.

Mr Chair, as exemplified by the visit of our Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, to Kyiv last week; our support to Ukraine will remain steadfast until the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Ukraine is fully restored. The UK is one of the leading donors of military aid to Ukraine, committing £2.3 billion in 2022 and, as the Prime Minister announced at UNGA 77, this amount will be matched or exceeded in 2023. Just weeks ago we committed to donating more than 120 logistics vehicles in the latest tranche of gifted military equipment.

The UK has also trained more than 27,000 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2015, including over 5,500 of new recruits in the UK this year, with help from allies and partners. The training teaches troops key skills such as weapons handling, first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics, vehicle-mounted operations and trench and urban warfare, which will give them a crucial edge on the battlefield over Russia’s professional and mobilised soldiers.

The UK stands in solidarity with Ukraine, including through the ongoing provision of military assistance, as Ukrainians defend their homeland and fight for the simple right to a free, peaceful and prosperous future. Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 October 2022.

The UK Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, delivered a statement on the ongoing situation on gender rights in Somalia.

Thank you Mr Vice President,

The United Kingdom thanks the Independent Expert and strongly supports the extension of her mandate. We welcome the peaceful conclusion of Somalia’s elections and the historic appointment of the first female Deputy Speaker. Regrettably, the 30 per cent quota for female representation was not met and delayed elections left little room for progress on human rights.

More broadly, we remain deeply concerned by persistent insecurity in Somalia and the cost in civilian lives; the marginalisation of displaced people, minorities and women; continuing sexual and gender-based violence; and restrictions on freedom of expression. A lack of accountability for perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses persists. The impending famine in the Baidoa and Burhakaba districts and the resulting increase in internally displaced persons compounds our concern.

We urge the Somali Government to strengthen the rule of law, tackle impunity, and enhance basic freedoms in Somalia by establishing a National Human Rights Commission and accelerating progress on pending legislation, particularly the Sexual Offences Bill, the Female Genital Mutilation Bill, and the Child Rights Bill. These are crucial to deliver the commitments made in the National Development Plan for 2020-2024. The UK stands ready to work with Somalia on this, and calls for the international community to do the same.

Ms Dyfan,

We welcome the continued engagement and cooperation of Somalia with this mandate.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 October 2022.

The UK’s Ambassador to the WTO and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, delivered this statement at the 7th WTO Trade Policy Review of Mexico on 5 October 2022.

Chair, let me speak, for the first time at a TPR, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government and to welcome the Mexican delegation under the leadership of the Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, Luz María De La Mora. Thanks to the Mexican Federal Government and the WTO for their reports. Let me also thank the Chair and our distinguished Discussant, Clare Kelly for kindly facilitating this Trade Policy Review and providing us such an insightful basis for our discussions.

In our written questions for this Review, we were keen to gain a deeper understanding of Mexico’s regulatory framework in areas including Intellectual Property, domestic regulating bodies and agencies, the government procurement regime, Trade in Services, and SPS measures. This broad range of questions covering a panoply of themes is an indication of the range of opportunities available to Mexican and UK business from our accelerating bilateral trade.

Chair, this review includes a period of acute economic instability globally. WE are therefore pleased to welcome the positive steps which the Mexican Federal Government took to mitigate these shocks, notably through the expansion of digitisation services for administrative procedures for imports and agri-food exports.

It is encouraging that in periods of economic stress, actions such as these demonstrate that opportunities can be found, notably digital opportunities, which can accelerate best practice and improve the free trading environment. This also builds on previous efforts to reform customs procedures, as identified during Mexico’s last TPR, back in 2017.

In that TPR, the then Chair outlined in her concluding remarks Member’s concerns that Mexico’s trade was highly dependent on a single export market, noting that there was a need to diversify. During this review period, Mexico has indeed enacted some of the suggestions made to address this, including strengthening economic ties with different trading partners.

To this same end, the UK was pleased to sign a Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) with Mexico which came into force on 1 June last year. We look forward to delivering our Factual Presentation to the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements next month

To realise the full potential of our trading relationship, Mexico and the UK launched negotiations in London on 20 May this year to secure a more modern and comprehensive bilateral FTA. As Mexico highlighted in its Report to this review, we have agreed on the modernisation of rules relating to investment and intellectual property, and the inclusion of innovative provisions relating to SMEs, gender and innovation, among others. We look forward to bringing this agreement to fruition as soon as we can and to our businesses making full use of the opportunities that the FTA should offer to grow their business and generate prosperity for British and Mexican citizens.

As others have noted, Mexico has also signed agreements with the United States, Canada, and the EU, and has signed the entry-into-force of the CPTPP. As the Secretariat recognises in its Report, these and other preferential trade agreements demonstrate the importance that regionalism plays in Mexico’s trade relations.

Back In 2017, Members also encouraged Mexico to join plurilateral agreements, notably the GPA. We would welcome Mexico’s indication of progress from Mexico with regards to this key plurilateral agreement.

Let me welcome Mexico’s support for the Inclusive Trade Action Group ITAG and Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (GTAGA), as well as its engagement in the WTO own Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender. All these important initiatives help to increase women’s economic empowerment through enhanced trade opportunities, an objective the UK fully shares with Mexico.

Through our Embassy in Mexico City, the UK has been pleased to work with Mexico on developing a methodology to measure the wage gap in Mexico and help to identify a remedy. This is an on-going and important work, and we encourage Mexico to continue to advance the necessary actions in order to reap the full reward of Mexico’s ambitions in this area.

Regarding transparency, like others the UK notes that less than 200 measures have been recorded by Mexico in the WTO’s Trade Monitoring Database, a low notification level in both relative and absolute terms. The median G20 Member notifies around 400 measures. Notifications and transparency obligations are we all recognise a cornerstone of the ongoing success of the WTO, and we therefore encourage Mexico to continue their efforts to ensure maximum levels of transparency regarding notifications.

Furthermore, recent data suggests that of 257 policy intervention measures in force, 69% (or 177of them) are trade restrictive rather than trade-facilitating. As such, the UK encourages Mexico to pursue balanced trade policies.

As the Secretariat’s Report identifies, Mexico is working to open-up untapped potential within its economy. Export diversification and the spreading of regional exporting opportunities have significant potential to achieve this, expanding the benefits of free trade at a global level and contributing to an improved, strengthened international trading system, it s in all our interest. The UK looks forward to working with our Mexican partners to help make the most of these opportunities.

Finally Madame Chair we like to thank the delegation Mexico for their fruitful engagement in this important transparency exercise and we wish them a successful 7th Trade Policy Review, and thank the Distinguished PR and excellent team to reap all possibilities of WTO

Thank you, Chair.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 October 2022.

Ms Ailsa Terry has been appointed British High Commissioner to Malaysia in succession to Mr Charles Hay MVO who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Ms Terry will take up her appointment during July 2023.

Curriculum vitae

Full name: Ailsa Terry

Spouse: Adam Terry

Children: Two

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 October 2022.

The UK Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, delivered a statement on the Myanmar regime’s access to weapons and arms.

Thank you, Mr President.

Thank you Acting High Commissioner for your report.

The United Kingdom supported the council’s Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar and its’ important work to shine a light on the military’s economic interests. We call on all States to engage with its recommendations, which remain all the more important amid today’s calamitous situation in the country.

We are committed to working with partners to target the regime’s access to finance and arms, which facilitate the most egregious human rights violations. These violations must stop.

The UK has a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and we are clear that no Member State should sell arms to Myanmar; doing so exasperates conflict and instability and directly contributes to violations in the country.

Since the coup, we have announced targeted sanctions on the military leadership, and its access to revenue, arms and military equipment.

While responsible businesses have a role to play in Myanmar in job creation, poverty alleviation and standard setting, we must ensure that their work does not inadvertently support the military regime. For this reason, the UK has also strengthened its advice to UK business, encouraging enhanced due diligence to avoid inadvertent support for the military.

Madam Acting High Commissioner,

What more can the international community to do to pressure those who sell arms to the military?

Thank you.