Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 04 March 2025
04 Mar 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Ukraine
In short, yes. I welcome the role that the Prime Minister has taken in recent months, weeks and days—particularly intensively in recent days—to try to establish a way through the very challenging situation that we now face. The engagement with European leaders and the leaders of other countries, including the Prime Minister of Canada, has been particularly effective in drawing together a body of opinion that can help to create some of the cohesion that is required to support Ukraine at this particular moment. Those discussions are fundamental to assembling the correct approach, and I have publicly made it very clear that we support the Prime Minister in his endeavours.
There will, of course, be difficult issues that flow from the plans that the Prime Minister has set out, not least the possibility of armed personnel from this country being deployed in Ukraine. That is some way off, as we all know, but it is important that we contemplate and discuss those issues properly, fully and openly as a society with democratic scrutiny, so that we can come to the right conclusions.
I fundamentally agree with Mr Sarwar that the future of European democracy is very much in play at this moment. What happens in the course of the next few days, weeks and months will shape much of the future that lies ahead of us, and we have to make sure that we take actions that will protect the democratic values that we have all experienced during our lives and which are so precious in our society today.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Alison Johnstone)
NPA
The next item of business is a statement by John Swinney on international solidarity to support Ukraine. The First Minister will take questions at the end of...
The First Minister (John Swinney)
SNP
Just last Monday, all of Scotland’s political leaders took part in a powerful and moving ceremony at Edinburgh castle to mark three years since the start of ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
The First Minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 30 minutes for questions. It would be helpful if m...
Russell Findlay (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
We are honoured to be joined today, in the public gallery, by the consul of Ukraine in Edinburgh. Applause. For more than a century, the United Kingdom and ...
The First Minister
SNP
First, I associate myself with the welcome to the consul general of Ukraine. I am glad that he is here to hear these exchanges and the solidarity that we hav...
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I join others in welcoming the consul general of Ukraine to the Parliament. I spoke to him just before we came into the chamber, and he emphasised how much i...
The First Minister
SNP
In short, yes. I welcome the role that the Prime Minister has taken in recent months, weeks and days—particularly intensively in recent days—to try to establ...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
I join others in welcoming the consul general of Ukraine, and I recognise the impact of these discussions on Ukraine and on Ukrainians who are living in Scot...
The First Minister
SNP
I will make two points in response to that. First, Patrick Harvie used the term “truth”. Truth is so important in the conduct of these issues, because we all...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
I, too, welcome the appearance of our friend the Ukrainian consul general. Slava Ukraini. Heroyam slava. President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine are h...
The First Minister
SNP
First, what I said about the state visit in my statement is what I have been saying all weekend. There is nothing different about what I said to Parliament t...
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
It has been an absolute privilege to welcome Ukrainian people to Scotland during this difficult time. However, in this time of increased uncertainty—particul...
The First Minister
SNP
Rona Mackay highlights the unease and anxiety that must be felt by Ukrainian citizens who are living in this country. Their lives have been turned upside dow...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
The statement from the First Minister rightly acknowledges the danger of division in our society. We all want a path to peace, but President Trump’s recent d...
The First Minister
SNP
A number of companies in Scotland are involved in the manufacture of military equipment. Some of that military equipment is manufactured for our use here, an...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
The US Administration seems determined to appease the Kremlin’s butcher of Bucha and seek a Carthaginian peace that makes the treaty of Versailles look sensi...
The First Minister
SNP
I think that the importance of a guarantee of security is absolutely fundamental in this discussion. Without a guarantee of security, the suffering of the pe...
Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The consul of Ukraine in Scotland, who is in the gallery, told Parliament just a few days ago that Ukraine needs three powers: weapons, economic sanctions an...
The First Minister
SNP
I do not think that I could have been clearer about the Scottish Government’s support for the Prime Minister’s efforts. That is expressed openly and genuinel...
Audrey Nicoll (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
Last week, the consul of Ukraine in Scotland told the Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee that Ukraine requires “not o...
The First Minister
SNP
The people of Ukraine have suffered enormously, and it is vital that the peace settlement that is achieved is one that protects the independence, sovereignty...
Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Con)
Con
I associate myself with the First Minister’s remarks and acknowledge the work of the Prime Minister. It is important that he knows that he is acting on behal...
The First Minister
SNP
I readily associate myself with Jackson Carlaw’s suggestion. Invitations to Parliament are, of course, a matter for the Presiding Officer and the parliamenta...
Keith Brown (Clackmannanshire and Dunblane) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the First Minister’s strong support for the principle of Ukrainian territorial integrity, its independence and the principle of self-determination....
The First Minister
SNP
Mr Brown speaks with the authority of having been a member of the armed forces who served in active combat in the Falklands war in 1982. As I do on many issu...
Jackie Dunbar (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
We must be steadfast in our support for Ukraine at this uncertain time, and I echo the need for international solidarity to defeat Russian aggression. Can th...
The First Minister
SNP
The Scottish Government has provided in excess of £5 million in relation to humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, which has provided essential supplies in rela...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine for what they have endured, and their hopes for peace and security for their nation and their right to sovereignty...
The First Minister
SNP
Pauline McNeill knows that I come at my politics from the perspective of believing in the necessity of European co-operation and active participation in Euro...
Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central) (SNP)
SNP
We all want to see a just peace, and in order to achieve that it is in Scotland’s interests that we support Ukraine and its people’s right to freedom, democr...