Grant Shapps said the UK “is not inadvertently doing anything to escalate this war in a way that would be unacceptable to the whole world” as it apparently confirmed that a deal with Poland to supply fighter jets in Ukraine had been cancelled.
The transport secretary told Sky News that all NATO partners are “working together” on the Ukraine situation, adding: “It is important that we are a defensive organization, which means we will not be directly involved in the war.”
He said a fighter jet loan deal “is not something that is going to grow” but that the UK is “providing a great deal of support”.
Live updates when Polish fighter plane plan is rejected
Speaking to Sky News yesterday, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said he would support NATO members’ decision to supply Ukraine with MiG-29 jets, but that should be their choice.
Wallace is due to brief MPs today on UK support for Ukrainian forces.
Key developments:
• US bans Russian oil imports, UK to phase them out by year-end
• US says Poland’s offer of MIG-29 fighter jets to deliver to Ukraine ‘unsustainable’
• Criminal offense for any Russian aircraft entering UK airspace, says Transport Secretary
• First Lady Olena Zelenska writes an open letter condemning Putin and the ‘mass murder of civilians’
• Woman accused in New York of being a Russian agent for more than a decade
Some 760 visas granted to fleeing Ukrainian refugees
Shapps also confirmed to Sky News that some 760 visas have now been granted to fleeing Ukrainian refugees, allowing them to come to the UK, with 22,000 applications “on the way”.
The transport secretary defended the UK’s record of providing an escape route for Ukrainians and insisted that the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, did not want his compatriots to travel too far from their homeland.
“No country has provided more humanitarian aid to Ukraine than the UK in the world. We have donated £400m and the people of Britain have also been incredibly generous,” she told Sky News.
“Geographically we are, of course, further apart in the west and President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government have told me that they don’t want people to leave the country, if possible, because they want people to be able to come back.
“We are really looking at that, respecting the wishes of Ukraine, the wishes of the government, not to take people out of Ukraine. »
These are the areas to which Ukrainian refugees have fled
Shapps defends visa security checks
Shapps also defended the UK’s insistence on visa controls for Ukrainians.
“I think you would expect that we want to check people’s status before they come in,” he told Sky News.
“We know that Russia is involved in all kinds of operations, so it is absolutely fair to check that someone is from Ukraine and to know who is coming to this country, essentially, and that is what we do. »
The transport secretary said the decision not to have a visa application center in Calais was to prevent Ukrainians from becoming targets of criminal smuggling gangs operating around the Channel port.
“I know that a center is being created in Lille. I also know that due to the nature of the situation in Calais, the long-term problems of the criminal gangs funneling people there, we are very interested in separating those two problems,” he said.
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“We don’t get into fights”
UK bans Russian planes from airspace
His comments came as the government criminalized any Russian aircraft entering British airspace.
On Tuesday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps sent a letter to all UK airports and airfields to inform them that air traffic control now has the power to tell the pilots of any Russian aircraft, private or commercial, that do not enter or leave British airspace. a certain route.
Airport operators can detain a Russian plane, or a plane chartered by a Russian, under the new law.
The new powers will also allow the government to remove aircraft owned by designated Russian individuals and entities from the UK aircraft register.
Since February 25, Russian scheduled airlines, including flag carrier Aeroflot, have been banned from UK airspace, but new legislation introduced on Tuesday means any Russian aircraft will be in violation.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also announced a ban on the export of aviation and space-related goods and technology and UK companies providing insurance and reinsurance services in connection therewith.
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The UK joins the US in banning Russian oil imports, as Western sanctions against Russia intensify.
UK and US adopt measures to sanction the Russian oil company
Ms. Truss will meet with officials in Washington today to discuss increased support for Ukraine after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the UK and the US for their moves to sanction Russian oil.
Shapps acknowledged that the ban on Russian oil imports could have repercussions for consumers.
“We need to stop the flow of Putin’s oil and gas money that finances his war machine,” he said.
“I think the British people, although this will of course lead to higher energy prices, although we have probably seen this before as it is already happening, the British people are not ready to see us finance the horrible war plan of Putin. »
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to “fight to the end” as he calls for more help from the UK in a historic speech to the House of Commons.
Ukraine’s president addresses British parliamentarians
Yesterday, Zelenskyy vowed to ‘fight to the end’ against Russia as he called for more help from the UK in a historic speech to the House of Commons.
Echoing Winston Churchill’s ‘we will fight on the beaches’ speech before the same camera in 1940, the Ukrainian president said: “We will fight to the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue to fight for our land, whatever it takes. .
“We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the coasts, in the streets. »
It is the first time that a foreign leader has spoken directly to MPs in the House of Commons.
