LONDON, 29 March 2022, (TON): Foreign Secretary Liz Truss updated the House of Commons on the situation in Ukraine and on the NATO and G7 Leaders meetings in Brussels last week.

With permission, I want to update the House, on behalf of my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister, on the NATO and G7 Leaders meetings in Brussels last week.

Together with our allies, we agreed to keep the pressure up on Putin to end his appalling war in Ukraine, through tougher sanctions to debilitate the Russian economy; supplying weapons to Ukraine and boosting NATO’s Eastern Flank; providing humanitarian aid and dealing with the wider consequences of this crisis; and supporting Ukraine in any negotiations they undertake.

Strength is the only thing Putin understands.

Our sanctions are pushing back the Russian economy by years.

We owe it to the brave Ukrainians to keep up our tough approach to get peace. We owe it to ourselves to stand with them for the cause of freedom and democracy in Europe and across the world.

It is vital we step up this pressure.

We cannot wait for more appalling atrocities to be committed in Ukraine. We know that the impact of sanctions degrades over time.