LONDON, 23 February 2022, (TON): Thank you Mr Speaker “with permission I will make a statement about the situation in Ukraine.”

Last night, President Putin flagrantly violated the Minsk peace agreements by recognising the supposed independence of the so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

In a single inflammatory speech, he denied that Ukraine had any tradition of genuine statehood, claimed that it posed a direct threat to the security of Russia and hurled numerous other false accusations and aspersions.

Soon afterwards, the Kremlin announced that Russian troops would enter the breakaway regions under the guise of peacekeepers, and Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers have since been spotted.

The House should be in no doubt that the deployment of these forces in sovereign Ukrainian territory amounts to a renewed invasion of that country.

And by denying Ukraine’s legitimacy as a state – and presenting its very existence as a mortal threat to Russia – Putin is establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive.