Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 September 2022.

Remarks delivered by Dame Karen Pierce DCMG, British Ambassador to the USA, at A Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the Washington National Cathedral.

Madam Vice President; Madame Speaker; Leader McCarthy; Governors; Senators; Justices; esteemed colleagues from Realms and the Commonwealth; and the Diplomatic Corps welcome and thank you all for joining us today.

I would also like to thank Dean Randolph Hollerith and the Washington National Cathedral, the Bishop and Presiding Bishop, for holding this service in honour of Her Late Majesty The Queen. Their consideration and efforts in a short space of time have been outstanding. We salute too and thank the wonderful Colour Guards and musicians.

The Queen was a great friend and admirer of the United States. She paid some 6 official visits in total – many more to the Kentucky stables – addressing Congress as well as speaking to Presidents and attending football and baseball games and commemorative events such as America’s Bicentennial and the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement. She well understood the affinity between the US and the UK stressing not just out common heritage and kinship but our common values. To Congress She said that “some people believe that power grows from the barrel of a gun. We have gone a better way; our societies rest on mutual agreement, on contract and on consensus.”

The values She personified and the traditions She upheld are fundamentally in their essence the same that underpin America and Her institutions, indeed guide the Commonwealth and all those who cherish democracy. She was proud that the values begun by the Magna Carta had their vivid restatement through the Founding Fathers.

That is why, I think, Her death has touched so many people round the world and especially here. As America celebrated with us The Queen’s 70 years on the throne earlier this year, so America has mourned in solidarity. We have been humbled and honoured by the immense number of tributes – from the President and First Lady and you Madam Vice President being some of the first world leaders to come in person to sign the condolence book, through to the two House and Senate Resolutions and the presentation by you Madam Speaker of the Stars and Stripes that flew at half-mast over the Capitol, to the many tributes form Governors and Mayors, the Empire State lit in purple and silver; the Union Jack flag lowered to half-mast at the site of the battle of New Orleans – the last time US and UK militaries fought as enemies – with Her deep sense of history I think She would have liked – to the flowers and messages from ordinary Americans some of whom queued for hours at the Embassy. Biden State funeral.

This affinity was exemplified by The Queen’s ordering – after 9/11, whose anniversary we commemorated recently – the Star Spangled Banner to be played at Buckingham Palace and the Star and Stripes to be flown on the 10 and 20th anniversaries at half-mast.

In a moving reciprocal gesture Mayor Bowser ordered Union Jacks to fly at half-mast along Pennsylvania Avenue. We thank you from King Charles and The Royal Family down for these amazing tributes. That the President was the first sitting President we believe to attend a State Funeral is another deep honour. The tributes from all former Presidents have been very moving.

This is a Service of Thanksgiving. There have been plenty of lively and happy stories about The Queen. Many people in this Cathedral today have met Her whether in America, in the Realms and Commonwealth and other countries or in the UK. You know Her dignity, Her warmth and kindnesses but also Her quick-wittedness, Her mischievous smile. My favourite story out of so many concerns an agricultural Show in the east of the UK. One of the exhibitors went up to a middle-aged lady in a headscarf and tweeds. “Excuse me”, said the exhibitor, “but you do look an awful lot like The Queen”. “How very reassuring”, The Queen replied.

She sought to move with the times. She was the archetypal Bond Girl, parachuting into the London Olympics; she poured tea for Paddington Bear as well as heads of State, and here in the US She was honoured to receive the Ruth Bader Ginsburg award for Women in Leadership – one of the very few times, we believe, that She accepted a non-State award – you can check it out on the Buckingham Palace YouTube entry.

President Biden said that The Queen defined an era. I think that nails it. She was a remarkable woman – coming to the Throne at 25; she saw decades of history and met hundreds of world leaders including 13 of 14 US Presidents during Her reign; She was present at the opening of the United Nations in London. She was very proud to head the Commonwealth. Whenever I met The Queen or even saw her on TV She seemed to embody the whole nation and its long history. The human and the heroic coming together in one extraordinary person, exemplified so well by the majesty and history of Monday’s State Funeral.

I would like to close by remarking on that duty and public service. Her now famous pledge at the age of 21 to devote Her whole life “whether it be long or short ..to your service” still has the power to animate us today and has been clearly restated by the new King Charles III. We are grateful for Her long life and, as King Charles said, “we draw strength from the light of her example”.

For me personally, it has been an immense honour to serve as Her Majesty’s Ambassador from Afghanistan to America, and points in-between. The Embassy and I are now very proud to serve our new King.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 September 2022.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 September 2022.

Speaking at an event on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Horn of Africa at the UN General Assembly in New York, Ford announced £22.8 million to enable the UN and our NGO partners to continue lifesaving assistance through cash support; access to water and sanitation services; and the delivery of highly specialised health and nutrition treatment.

Ford called on the international community to act now to avert disaster, as concerns rise that a projected famine in Somalia could be worse than in 2011, when a quarter of a million people lost their lives.

Minister Ford said:

The drought in the Horn of Africa is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.  Almost half of Somalia’s population is in dire need of help – with 300,000 people forecast to be in famine by October if assistance is not provided immediately.

The UK is playing a leading role in the international response to this crisis. We are providing vital life-saving food security, health, nutrition and water support to half a million people across Somalia, backed up by the funding announced today.

If we are to avoid a repeat of the catastrophic drought which saw a quarter of million people die in Somalia a decade ago, the international community must act now.

This package of support takes the UK’s total humanitarian, health and nutrition funding for Somalia this financial year up to £52.8 million.

The UK has allocated a total of £156 million in humanitarian support for crises in East Africa this financial year.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 September 2022.

Ian Stubbs (UK Delegation to the OSCE) says it is unclear whether Russia’s front-line forces have sufficient reserves or adequate morale to withstand another Ukrainian assault.

Thank you Mr Chair. Over the past weeks, we have seen that the strong will, courage and remarkable military skill of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not only minimised Russian gains, but also enabled substantive advances through counter attacks in eastern and southern areas of Ukraine.

As Ukraine continues offensive operations in the north-east of the country, Russian forces have sought to establish a defensive line between the Oskil River and the town of Svatove. This zone is important to Russia, it contains one of the few main resupply routes Russia still controls from the Belgorod region of Russia into Ukraine. Additionally, this line sits along the border of Luhansk Oblast which Russia declared its intent to seize as one of its immediate war aims.

As Russia digs in and attempts to defend this zone, Ukrainian Forces have now begun to conduct offensive operations east of the Oskil River and reports indicate that they are now in control of Bilohorivka, a village located in the Luhansk oblast. It is increasingly unclear whether Russia’s front-line forces have sufficient reserves or adequate morale to withstand another concerted Ukrainian assault.

Mr Chair, recent reporting indicates that, despite their purported overall size, sufficient Russian manpower for its invasion of Ukraine remains a key challenge for the Russian military and presents a stark mismatch between ambition and reality. Last July, in this Forum, we discussed the attempts by the Kremlin-linked Russian private military company, Wagner Group, to recruit Russian convicts for service in Ukraine. This has been reinvigorated. A video recently posted online appears to show Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin making a recruitment pitch to prisoners. In the video, Prigozhin emphasises that he is only seeking “fighters for assault units”. In return, prisoners have been offered commutation of their sentences as well as cash incentives.

Additionally, numerous reports indicate that the Russian military is deploying mobile recruitment offices throughout Russia to attract “contract soldiers” to fight in Ukraine, selling the proposition as “the choice of a real man”. A significant monetary incentive is also being offered to these potential “contract soldiers”.

It is a telling indication that the Russian leadership has resorted to bribing its citizens and convicts to join the so-called “Special Military Operation” in an attempt to bolster its force levels.

Separately, Russian military academies are now shortening training courses and bringing cadets’ graduation dates forward. Almost certainly to enable the early release of cadets so that they can be deployed more quickly in support of the Ukraine operation.

Mr Chair, in sum, the impact of Russia’s manpower challenge has become increasingly severe. The acceleration of officer cadets’ training, the recruitment of “contract soldiers” and Wagner’s demand for assault troops suggests that two of the most critical shortages within the Russian military manning crisis are combat infantry and junior commanders.

Further to this, President Putin’s decision to impose a partial mobilisation shows he is willing to break his own promises and also sacrifice citizens of Russia for his so-called “Special Military Operation”. This mobilisation is a clear admission that President Putin’s mission is failing. He and his Defence Minister have sent thousands of their own citizens to their deaths, poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly led. No amount of threats and propaganda can hide the fact that Ukraine is winning this war, the international community are united and Russia is becoming a global pariah.

Meanwhile, at the FSC, our Russian colleagues would rather we did not focus on Russia’s struggles to resource its illegal war of choice. Last week we saw efforts to distract from these setbacks and shift blame onto others by doubling down on tired old narratives, seeking to justify the unjustifiable, to this Forum and the Russian population.

These maladroit attempts to obfuscate the truth fool no one. The clear and unambiguous fact is that it is the Russian leadership who decided to conduct its unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Russia was warned that such a reckless act would be a strategic mistake, a strategic mistake that would have strategic consequences. The blame for the impact of these consequences lies solely with the Russian leadership and military – no one else.

Russia’s aggressive actions have brought into sharp focus for many countries what was once unthinkable – Russia’s willingness to invade a sovereign neighbour. In response, the UK, along with others who seek a secure and stable future in the Euro-Atlantic area, is strengthening its defensive capabilities, including though the NATO Defensive Alliance, to protect against Russia’s chosen path of naked aggression.

Mr Chair, the Kremlin’s conspiracy theories and self-serving propaganda that seek to portray Russia – the aggressor who has unleashed horrendous violence on Ukraine – as the victim, is nothing more than the textbook delusion of an oppressor who has severely miscalculated.

As our Ukrainian friends have so aptly demonstrated: “Courage is fire, bullying is smoke.”

Finally Mr Chair, I would note that just yesterday, it was reported that Russia is pressing ahead with plans to carry out a referendum in temporarily controlled areas. Any Russian attempt to hold sham referenda on the sovereign territory of Ukraine would have no legitimacy and will be met with a coordinated response from Ukraine’s partners.

Mr Chair, 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.