Hansard

I absolutely agree with that very welcome intervention. Indeed, it means that I no longer have to cover that part of my speech, because Mr Fraser has touched on it. I concur with what he says. I am just about to move on to Scotland’s support for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, 3.7 million Ukrainians who have been driven from their homes are internally displaced, and 5.9 million have been forced to cross into neighbouring countries. In Scotland, 29,000 Ukrainians—mostly women and children—arrived with a sponsor through the homes for Ukraine scheme and have made an invaluable contribution. That includes a former intern in my office, who found a new home with a family in Beith.

I welcome the on-going voluntary work to help the people of Ukraine, which Mr Fraser touched on. I also welcome the Scottish Government’s unwavering support for Ukraine and Neil Gray’s sterling work as minister with special responsibility for Ukraine. Although Scotland’s devolved Government is limited in how it can support Ukraine’s people, we must do what we can. For example, to help to defend against deadly Russian drone attacks, more than 280 tonnes of fishing nets were sent from Scotland, following a request from President Zelenskyy’s Government. Vital infrastructure and strategic locations in eastern Ukraine are now protected by nets draped overhead, which catch exploding drones. On the meat grinder of its front line, Russia has barely inched forward in the past 30 months, but the use of drones makes it almost impossible for people to live safely within 30 miles of Russia’s lines.

The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign Scotland urges all candidates in the upcoming Scottish parliamentary election to support its five pledges for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Full details will be sent to all candidates, but the top line of each pledge is: first, to help the Ukrainian people to defeat the illegal Russian invasion of their country; second, to prevent Russia from financing its invasion of Ukraine through trade; third, to build practical solidarity links between the Scottish and Ukrainian people; fourth, to help Ukrainian refugees to build new lives here if they want to do so; and finally, to provide necessary Scottish Government material support for Ukrainian refugees. I trust that all candidates, across all parties, will support those aims.

Preventing Russia from financing its invasion of Ukraine through trade is particularly pertinent. Putin has been handed a billion-dollar windfall as the United States loosens sanctions on Russian exports due to the surge in global oil prices, which, ironically, is caused by the US’s illegal war on Iran. Iran supplies the notorious Shahed drones that Putin sends indiscriminately, night after night, against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. President Trump is seemingly in awe of Putin, and his ham-fisted peace negotiators’ approach makes it look more like he is pursuing a real estate deal—a deal similar to the infamous Munich agreement that Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain and Daladier imposed on Czechoslovakia in 1938. Appeasement is never the answer. Ukraine has been urged to make all the concessions to end a war that it did not start.

Despite this grim picture, the Ukrainian people’s determination to achieve a just peace remains resolute. We must not accept the Carthaginian peace that President Putin desires, which would allow him to permanently weaken Ukraine and annex the country at a later date. Peace is best achieved by Russia abandoning its imperialist war, vacating areas conquered and leaving an independent democratic Ukraine to decide its own future, with its territorial integrity restored.

While the world’s media focus is, understandably, on the latest middle east conflict, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities are hit daily by Russian missiles, thousands perish on the front and peace talks appear moribund. Four years on from Russia’s invasion, Ukraine remains steadfast, while Putin wastefully throws away the lives of his soldiers. Russia is a major threat to much of eastern Europe, as those nations well know. The Baltics do not believe that, if successful, Putin will stop at Ukraine, and neither should we. It is our duty to do everything in our power to ensure that he is not successful, including whole-heartedly supporting Ukraine, financially and militarily. Glory to Ukraine.