Hansard

I hear the concerns that Murdo Fraser has raised. I will look very closely and as sympathetically as I can at the correspondence.

After he intervened earlier, Kevin Stewart made a very moving speech—his last of the parliamentary session. With your indulgence, Deputy Presiding Officer, I will pay tribute to him. He has been a remarkable public servant for 27 years. He has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament representing the city of Aberdeen and as a Government minister in a number of portfolios, during which time he discharged his duties with tremendous engagement and professionalism—and we must not forget his local government background in Aberdeen. I have known him for a long time, and he has been a remarkable servant to the Scottish National Party and the cause of independence. I pay tribute to him, but I know that he will not leave the political stage, even though he might be leaving the Parliament.

Stephen Kerr reminded us of a really important point: Ukrainians are not fighting only for Ukraine; they are fighting for us all in Europe. We need to stand by them. He reminded us of the targeting of Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. Those are acts of terrorism by the Russians, and they need to be described as such. He said that there should be no slackening of our commitments and that we should encourage the United Kingdom and other countries to provide everything that Ukraine requires to defend itself and to liberate the occupied territories.

Jamie Hepburn recounted the cost of the conflict and the solidarity that exists in Scotland. He also underlined the importance of our collective defence.

Colin Beattie spoke of his concerns, which I share, about the lifting of sanctions against Russia and the diversion of attention and armaments to the middle east.

Paul Sweeney recounted his experience of volunteering and of visiting Ukraine, and he spoke about the necessity of resilience there and here, which is an important lesson for us. I join him in paying tribute to Scottish volunteering efforts and volunteers.

Willie Coffey highlighted that Scotland has recently supplied fishing nets to Ukraine to counter the use of drones. He said that we need to back Ukraine to the hilt and that there must be a just end to the conflict.

As we heard, it is now more than four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The human cost remains shocking, but the past few months have at least seen Ukraine strengthen its position on the front line. We pay tribute to the men and women of the Ukrainian armed forces, who are paying for it in blood and treasure, and we welcome the increasing possibility of Ukraine retaking territories in the south. Increased access to military technology, including Ukrainian-manufactured drones, has enabled the Ukrainian army to make those gains, while minimising its own troop losses.

However, events in the middle east are clearly having unintended impacts on the conflict in Ukraine. Increased global oil prices are bringing an additional $150 million a day into Kremlin coffers, and there has been some easing of economic sanctions on Russia. Today, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is reminding EU leaders in Brussels that continuing to support Ukraine, including by releasing the €90 billion of EU loans that are currently held up and doing whatever it takes to defeat Putin, is in Europe’s best interests.