Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 February 2025.

Deputy Ambassador Brown condemns the Russian state’s reported systematic torture, abuse, and execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Thank you, Madam Chair and good afternoon colleagues.  On behalf of the UK Delegation I would like to offer a warm welcome to the new Ukraine ambassador.  Please be assured of our continued support to you, Viktoria and to your exceptional team.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, overwhelming evidence from international bodies, human rights organisations, and independent investigations demonstrates that Russia continues to disregard international law. The UK unequivocally condemns the Russian state’s reported systematic torture, abuse, and execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The UN Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Russia’s use of torture against POWs and civilian detainees amounts to crimes against humanity. Their reports outline how Russian forces have subjected Ukrainian POWs to brutal beatings, burns and electric shocks amplified by water. Additionally, they detail how Ukrainian POWs are forced to endure sexual violence, including rape, attacks on genitals, and threats of mutilation, castration, and sterilisation. In ODIHR’s latest report on Ukraine, all the Ukrainian former POWs interviewed reported severe and routine torture during their internment, supporting ODIHR’s analysis that the torture of both POWs and civilians by the Russian state is widespread and systematic.

Furthermore, ODIHR documented that Ukrainian POWs are held in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, and deprived of adequate food, water, and medical care. Such neglect, aimed at breaking the spirit of those already disarmed and vulnerable, is a direct affront to human dignity.

Additionally, the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office reports that 147 Ukrainian POWs have been executed by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion.

And this week the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine raised serious concerns over a sharp increase in executions of captured Ukrainian soldiers by Russian forces. Since August 2024, the Mission documented 79 executions across 24 incidents, with many cases involving soldiers who had surrendered or were otherwise in Russian custody, including instances where unarmed and injured personnel were shot dead on the spot.

Madam Chair, these are not isolated incidents. The testimonies gathered by the UN Commission of Inquiry highlight deliberate and systematic practices; and find a coordinated state policy of cruelty and impunity that underscores the Russian state’s complete disregard for international norms. The Geneva Conventions are clear: POWs must be treated humanely. Reporting from the UN and ODIHR outlines how Russia has not only failed in this obligation—it has systematically violated it.

The UK demands an immediate end to all atrocities and calls for independent investigations to hold all perpetrators accountable; from those carrying out abuses to those ordering them. Alongside our international partners, we will ensure that those responsible—at all levels of the Russian state—face justice.

The protection of prisoners of war is not optional; it is an absolute and binding requirement of international law.  The UK demands that the Russian state ensures the humane treatment of all those in detention and grants the ICRC unimpeded access to places of detention, in line with the Geneva Conventions.

The UK welcomes the latest prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia facilitated by the United Arab Emirates. We continue to call on Russia to comply with International Humanitarian Law and not exploit prisoners of war and civilian detainees for political purposes. All those arbitrarily detained must be released, including our colleagues: the three Special Monitoring Mission members. We continue to call for their release.

The UK stands in full solidarity with Ukraine and reaffirms our commitment to ensuring justice for victims and survivors. The evidence is overwhelming. The time for accountability is now. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 February 2025.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on South Sudan.

Let me start by expressing concern regarding the attacks on civilians, including South Sudanese, in Wad Madani in Sudan between 11 and 15 January and the subsequent unrest in South Sudan on 16-17 January.

Second, as we’ve heard today, the humanitarian situation in South Sudan is desperate.

Over one million displaced people have now arrived from Sudan into South Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict.

The United Kingdom recognises the significant impact of the Sudan crisis on the region and welcomes South Sudan’s commitment to welcoming and supporting those fleeing the conflict.

We commend UNMISS’s facilitation of humanitarian efforts, noting that significant challenges lie ahead in 2025.

The UK will continue to support South Sudan and we have increased our humanitarian support to Sudan’s neighbours.

Third, President, as we have heard today, the political situation in South Sudan remains precarious.

The United Kingdom is concerned by continued restrictions to political and civic space in the country and by the lack of progress towards unification of the security forces.

Progress on this is critical to create the conditions for sustainable peace and elections.

The Transitional Government of South Sudan has not yet produced their promised work plan to deliver elections in 2026.

Without renewed efforts, progress towards peaceful, inclusive and credible elections risks falling further behind schedule.

We welcome UNMISS’s work to build capacity and capability for South Sudan’s electoral institutions.

And we repeat our call on the Transitional Government to match these efforts to provide adequate funding for elections and to pay the salaries of public servants including the security forces.

In conclusion, President, we call on the Transitional Government of South Sudan to publish a credible elections preparations work plan and then take the necessary steps towards holding peaceful, inclusive and credible elections in line with the new 2026 timeline.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 February 2025.

Additional £17m will foster UK-Ukraine collaboration in the clean energy field.

The UK will invest £17 million in innovative energy projects to support the recovery and future sustainability of Ukraine’s energy system. The funding announced during the visit of Foreign Secretary David Lammy to Kyiv will support the second round of the InnovateUkraine competition, a challenge fund to pilot low-carbon solutions tailored to Ukraine’s energy needs.

The second round of InnovateUkraine will spur innovative collaborations between British, Ukrainian and international businesses and research institutions, to develop the scalable and sustainable energy innovations of the future.

InnovateUkraine 2 will focus on the following technologies:

• Smart green grids
• Renewable generation
• Renewable heat
• Green fuels
• Low-carbon buildings and homes
• Industrial decarbonisation
• Repurposing existing energy infrastructure

The British Ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Harris said:

I am proud that the UK is further increasing its funding to the Ukrainian energy sector. This latest contribution underpins our commitments under the 100-Year Partnership, signed by the Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy in January.

These projects, led jointly by British and Ukrainian business, universities, and civil society, will help both our countries develop clean and sustainable energy solutions for the future.

InnovateUkraine is a showcase for the forward-looking partnership between our countries. The UK is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for the next century.

Applications for InnovateUkraine Round 2 will open in mid-March 2025. Once they have undergone screening, successful projects will run for 24 months from late 2025. The teams will receive support and guidance from an accelerator programme, to help with attracting further investment.

InnovateUkraine’s first cohort of projects is already transforming the lives of the Ukrainian people by creating reliable and novel methods of heating and powering buildings, as well as fuelling the imagination of the next generation of scientists and innovators.

These projects include: a new, locally manufacturable battery storage technology which potentially undercuts and outperforms existing technologies; a technology which allows the upcycling of waste concrete to dramatically reduce the embodied emissions of new buildings and structures; and a new tool to make production of geothermal energy in Ukraine more efficient and ripe for investment.

To find out more about the scope and eligibility requirements, please visit: www.innovateukraine.io

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 February 2025.

UK Military Advisor, Joby Rimmer, says Russia’s war of aggression has achieved little except the catastrophic loss of life, the loss of Russia’s military credibility, and the loss of Russia’s international reputation.

Thank you, Mr Chair. Sadly, we have started this year like the last, and the overwhelming concern of this forum remains: Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. The UK remains resolutely committed to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend their homeland. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the UK has provided over £3 billion per year in military, humanitarian and financial assistance, and this support will continue for as long as necessary to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored.

What has Russia accomplished so far? Russia’s full-scale invasion has been nothing short of a disaster. The Russian state’s bold assertion that the subjugation of Ukraine would be accomplished within a matter of days was made almost three years ago. Having failed in pursuit of its own strategic aims, the campaign has achieved little except the catastrophic loss of life on both sides, the loss of Russia’s military credibility, and the loss of Russia’s international reputation.

The UN estimates that more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians and some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed as a direct result of Russian aggression. Independent reports suggest approximately 830,000 Russian casualties, a number that demonstrates President Putin’s disregard for his own countrymen sent to fight in a war they did not choose. On 29th January alone, the Russian military lost 1,670 men with Russian casualties for January averaging over 1,500 per day. At the current rate of loss, Russia will have suffered over 1 million casualties by June 2025. As Russian casualties mount, Russian recruitment in Moscow has reduced, with military recruitment currently at 40 personnel a day, five times lower than the Summer-Autumn 2024 average of 200 recruits a day. Half of these recruits are reportedly indebted Russians and foreign nationals. The direct participation of DPRK troops in combat operations is another dangerous expansion of Putin’s illegal war. Of the 11,000 DPRK troops deployed in Kursk, reporting indicates that 4,000 are already casualties, including 1,000 fatalities.

What has Russia accomplished militarily? Reports from the region paint a stark image of Russian military mediocrity. Russia has reportedly now lost over 3,700 Main Battle Tanks, over 8,000 armoured vehicles and 1,800 pieces of artillery. Any marginal Russian gains around Donetsk, Toretsk and Pokrovsk have been extremely costly, with progress augmented through the cynical use of glide bombs, drone and missile attacks, causing widespread damage to local housing, medical facilities and critical infrastructure. Independent reports state that Russia launched over 1,250 aerial bombs and over 1,000 attack drones into Ukraine in the last week of January. Nearly all resulted in civilian casualties.

Last week, the Ukrainian army’s general staff reported that Russian forces bombed a boarding school in an area of Kursk under Ukrainian control, where civilians were sheltering and preparing to evacuate. Four people were killed and dozens injured. Russia’s continued disregard for human life cannot, and will not, be overlooked.

Russia is also suffering the cost to its international reputation. The war in Ukraine clearly violates the UN Charter and contravenes our shared commitments of the Helsinki Final Act – respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity and the non-use of force. This full-scale invasion is not just an illegal act that contravenes international law; it is a serious miscalculation and one that fundamentally represents loss; most appallingly, the loss of human life, the loss of Russia’s international reputation, and the loss of Russia’s military credibility.

Finally, the UK remains firm in its belief that any path to peace must be grounded in a position of strength for Ukraine. Ukraine must not be coerced into peace talks under duress or pressure from the aggressor. Ukraine has every right to determine its future, and its right to self-determination must be upheld. The UK is proud to be a steadfast friend of Ukraine and will not rest until Ukraine achieves peace on its own terms – Russia must cease hostilities in Ukraine and remove its forces from Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders. Thank you, Mr Chair.