CAEC Chairman requests further information on arms exports to Russia
23 July 2014
Sir John Stanley, Chairman of the Committees on Arms Export Controls, wrote on Monday 21 July to the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, requesting further information relating to arms exports to Russia.
The Committees have previously received information from the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, on 10 April about extant export licences to Russia and on 24 April from the previous Foreign Secretary, William Hague, about licence suspensions and revocations of arms export licences to Russia following the announcement on 18 March of a limited arms embargo to Russia and the Ukraine.
Questions relating to arms export licences to Russia
Following the events of the last week in the Ukraine the Chairman has requested further information relating to arms exports to Russia. The questions are as follows:
- Whether the Government will be suspending, revoking or re-issuing without Russia all or some of the remaining extant arms export licences to Russia. If so, please provide the details in the same format as in Annex 4, “Licences Suspended for Russia” of the Business Secretary’s reply of 14 May.
- Whether the Government will be suspending the processing of all applications for arms export licences to Russia regardless of whether the military or dual-use items concerned could be or are being deployed against Ukraine. If so, please state what conditions Russia will have to fulfil for the UK Government’s suspension of the processing of arms export licence applications to Russia to be lifted
- What specific steps the UK Government is taking to persuade NATO and EU Member States to adopt the same policies on arms exports to Russia as the UK.