Category Archives: Foreign policy

Boris Johnson open to attending European Council, say sources

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EU leaders and Joe Biden will meet next week to discuss war in Ukraine, but PM has not yet been invited

Boris Johnson is understood to be open to accepting an invitation to attend the European Council next week when EU leaders meet to discuss the war in Ukraine, though one has yet to be extended.

A Downing Street source said Johnson would be in Brussels next week for a Nato summit, along with the US president, Joe Biden, who will attend the council meeting later that afternoon. They said it remained a possibility for Johnson to attend the council meeting – which would be a major symbolic step post-Brexit.

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Six countries including UK and US accuse Russia of war crimes in Ukraine

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British foreign secretary says there is ‘very strong evidence’, and France says Putin is only pretending to negotiate

Russia has been accused by the UK, the US, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway of war crimes in Ukraine, as Paris claimed Vladimir Putin was only pretending to be interested in negotiating a peace deal.

The six countries challenged Russia before a UN security council meeting as the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said there was now “very, very strong evidence” of war crimes being committed by Russian forces.

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Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori could be free in days

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Possible deal to release pair involves agreement by UK to repay £400m debt, according to Iranian sources

British Iranian dual nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori could be freed and allowed to return to London within days under a deal in which the UK agrees to repay a £400m debt and release an Iranian prisoner.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has for months been at her parent’s home in Tehran awaiting news of whether she would have to serve a further one-year sentence in Iran handed down on top of the five years she had already served.

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s six years of bewilderment and injustice

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British-Iranian woman has endured almost unbearable psychological stress since her arrest at Tehran airport in April 2016

In White Torture, a book about the horror of solitary confinement in Iranian jails, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe recalled her first night in jail following her arrest at Tehran airport on 3 April 2016.

“The first night of detention I did not know where I was,” she explained. “I don’t remember what happened or what I did. I was shocked. I didn’t know why it had happened. No one gave me any explanations. Nobody told me why they were treating me like that, why they took my child away from me or where I was. The interrogation began.”

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UK imposes sanctions on Russian products and bans some exports

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Tariffs to be increased on Russian vodka while export ban is said to affect luxury vehicles, fashion and art

UK ministers have imposed a series of new export bans and tariffs on Russian products, the morning after the passage of the economic crime bill, intended to make it swifter and easier to target oligarchs and Russian interests.

The UK will deny Russia and Belarus access to WTO most-favoured nation tariffs for hundreds of their exports, a statement from the trade department and Treasury said, with an initial list of goods now facing additional 35% tariffs.

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Refugee website crashes as 89,000 Britons rush to take in Ukrainians

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About 10,000 people an hour signing up to offer homes to war-hit families and individuals, says minister

Almost 89,000 people have offered homes to Ukrainian refugees in the first hours of a government scheme that allows families and individuals to bring them to the UK.

The website for registering interest in the scheme crashed for a short while because of the numbers offering homes. By 9am on Tuesday, 88,712 had joined the scheme. The Foreign Office minister, James Cleverly, said “10,000 people every hour” were signing up.

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Boris Johnson plans Saudi Arabia visit to seek oil supply increase

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MPs voice deep concerns over trip after mass execution by regime and its continuing role in Yemen war

Boris Johnson is facing scrutiny over a planned trip to Saudi Arabia to push for an increase in oil output amid an outcry over the regime’s biggest ever mass execution and growing fears the prime minister may try to limit media scrutiny of the visit.

Downing Street would not confirm Johnson’s likely trip to Riyadh, but sources have said he wants to appeal to the Gulf state to increase its oil output to replace supplies from Russia.

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UK to donate more than 500 mobile generators to Ukraine

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Units will help provide power for key buildings such as hospitals, shelters and water treatment plants

Boris Johnson has announced that the government will donate more than 500 mobile generators to Ukraine to help provide power for key buildings such as hospitals, shelters and water treatment plants.

The UK government has set up a new Ukraine electricity network support taskforce, including many of the leading power suppliers. They will provide the generators from their stocks, with many expected to be delivered via neighbouring countries. In total, they should provide enough power for 20,000 homes or equivalent buildings.

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UK imposes sanctions on Roman Abramovich over ‘clear’ links to Putin

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Chelsea FC owner one of seven Russians to have assets frozen and be accused of ‘having blood on their hands’

Roman Abramovich, one of the world’s richest men, was finally subjected to sanctions by the UK government after ministers accused him of having “clear connections” to Vladimir Putin’s regime and being among a group of businessmen who had “blood on their hands”.

The owner of Chelsea FC was one of seven Russians worth up to £15bn who had their assets frozen on Thursday and were banned from travelling to Britain in a move designed to dramatically increase pressure on the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine.

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Putin will lead Russia to strategic defeat in Ukraine, says Blinken

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US secretary of state says Russian leader’s ‘clear plan to brutalise Ukraine’ will end in failure

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said Vladimir Putin will fail in his effort to subjugate Ukraine, and will instead lead Russia into a “strategic defeat” that is already unfolding.

Blinken was talking at a press conference with the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, at which both pledged to keep up security and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

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Brexit red tape stopping small charities getting supplies to Ukraine

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Polish charity says three vans were blocked from getting on ferry because they didn’t have required paperwork

Brexit red tape is preventing small charities and members of the public from bringing supplies to the Ukrainian border to help ease the deepening humanitarian crisis, it has emerged.

A Polish charity in Lewisham, south London, said three of its vans were blocked from getting on a ferry because they didn’t have the paperwork needed for their cargo.

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UK faces large EU bill over Chinese imports fraud

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Court rules government failed to fulfil obligation to collect correct amount of customs duties and VAT

The British government faces paying a hefty charge to the EU after the European court of justice ruled it had been negligent in allowing criminal gangs to flood European markets with cheap Chinese-made clothes and shoes.

Publishing its final ruling on Tuesday, the court concluded that the UK as member state had “failed to fulfil its obligations” under EU law to combat fraud and collect the correct amount of customs duties and VAT on imported Chinese goods. The failures by HMRC date from 2011 to 2017.

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Priti Patel under fire over chaotic Ukrainian refugee policy

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Home Office sources contradict earlier government denials that third way to enter Britain may be introduced

Priti Patel has been accused of presiding over chaos after Ukrainian refugees arriving in Calais were greeted by posters telling them to get their UK visas in Paris or Brussels, while her pledge to expand the visa scheme was contradicted by Downing Street.

On a day of confusion and uncertainty for Ukrainian refugees making the 1,400-mile journey to Britain, the home secretary admitted that she has not yet set up a visa application centre (VAC) near the French port of Calais where refugees have gathered.

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Defeating Putin in Ukraine may take years, says Dominic Raab

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Deputy PM says Nato will need ‘strategic stamina’ as Starmer accuses ministers of moving too slowly on sanctions

It may take years for Vladimir Putin to be defeated in his conquest of Ukraine, Britain’s deputy prime minister has admitted, as Labour accused the government of moving too slowly over sanctions.

Dominic Raab said people who thought the crisis could be resolved in days were “deluding themselves” and that Nato would need to “show some strategic stamina” in its bid to force the Russian army to retreat.

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UK nationals should leave Russia while they can, Foreign Office says

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Website update advises Britons to ‘consider leaving by remaining commercial routes’

The UK government has urged British nationals in Russia whose presence is “not essential” to consider leaving the country amid the mounting crisis in Ukraine.

The Foreign Office said it had updated its travel advice to say that Britons who can should use the remaining commercial routes to leave Russia.

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UK universities brace for impact of sanctions against Russia

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Most academics back research boycott but ‘there is a case for maintaining ties’, says Oxford professor

Researchers at UK universities are bracing themselves for sanctions affecting science partnerships with Russia, including in climate science and space research, as the government seeks to isolate Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.

Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, said most academics would support a research boycott with heavy hearts and concerns for Russian colleagues.

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Property of Russian elites could be handed to Ukrainian refugees, says Raab

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Deputy PM defends response to invasion after criticism the government has acted too slowly over sanctions

Russian elites could have their property seized and handed over to Ukrainian refugees, the deputy prime minister has suggested.

Dominic Raab made the remarks as he defended the UK’s response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for an emergency UN summit after a Russian attack on a nuclear power station in Ukraine.

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What more could the west do about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

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Analysis: From a no-fly zone to sanctions, the options that are on and off the table

Russia’s invading forces have bombed civilians in Kyiv, Kharkiv and elsewhere in Ukraine in the past 48 hours, prompting fears of rising casualties and growing questions as to whether the west could step up military, economic or other efforts to help. Here are some of the options – and the risks.

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UK and New Zealand sign free trade deal

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Government claims it will boost bilateral trade by 60% but critics call its benefits ‘economically marginal’

Britain and New Zealand have signed a free trade deal, which the UK government said would boost bilateral trade by 60% by eliminating tariffs, cutting red tape and enabling freer movement of professional workers.

Most business leaders welcomed the deal, which was agreed in principle in October and follows on the heels of a similar agreement with Australia, but the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said it would lead to unfair competition in their sector.

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UK politics live: Truss warns of ‘some economic hardship’ as she gives more detail of Russian sanctions

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Truss says officials ‘working through the night’ to draw up sanctions against oligarchs; Kwasi Kwarteng in Commons on economic crime bill

In a thread on Twitter, Rob Ford, the politics professor and co-author of Brexitland, a book explaining the attitudinal shifts (including on immigration) that led to Brexit, says that the public may be much more supportive of opening the borders to Ukrainian refugees than people (like Priti Patel?) assume. It starts here.

And here is one of Ford’s conclusions.

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