David Lammy: UK and France will relentlessly fight 'Putinisation'

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Joint opinion piece by British and French Foreign Secretaries David Lammy and Jean-Noël Barrot:

By launching his illegal and unprovoked full-scale war of aggression in Ukraine 1,000 days ago this week, not only did Vladimir Putin accelerate the largest war on the European continent since the Second World War, he also sought to rewrite the international order.

The annihilation of the global architecture that has been the cornerstone of international peace and security for generations. All to justify his illegal and intolerable aggression against a sovereign European country.

The UK and France will not let him do so. Together with our allies, we will do everything that is necessary to put Ukraine in the best position to achieve a just and lasting peace.

Indeed, what has happened in Ukraine is nothing short of the largest violation of territorial integrity of our time. From the bombing of civilians to the abduction and deportation of children, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has violated international law in countless ways.

The risks are not only to European security, but the world at large. Putin’s aim is to set a new precedent that upends the rules-based international system, whereby countries feel they can invade their neighbours with total impunity.

That brutality risks becoming the new norm and threatening peace everywhere. And as the war in Ukraine is spreading beyond Europe, we see the consequences of this attempted “Putinisation” for the world.

North Korea is leveraging its relationship with Russia to flex its muscles on the battlefield in an attempt to strengthen its hand and further destabilise Asia, starting with its immediate neighbour.

Iran is also toughening its stance by providing Russia with drones and missiles, while refraining from rolling back its nuclear programme and destabilising the entire Middle East via its proxies.

As two founding nations of the UN and permanent members of the Security Council, the UK and France will relentlessly fight this campaign of “Putinisation”.

Learning from history, we believe that international relations should be grounded in justice. Any just and durable peace cannot be achieved through violence nor maintained by force.

This is why we have condemned the barbaric terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas and other terrorist groups on 7 October, 2023, and why we have sanctioned the perpetrators.

This is also why we continue to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, the massive scale-up of humanitarian assistance, and the cessation of violent settlers’ activities in the West Bank in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians.

We know the Palestinian issue will not go away until a two-state solution is implemented, with mutual recognition and security guarantees.

Similarly, we are no doubt that diplomacy, not violence, is the only way to achieve peace and security for Israel and Lebanon. We need an immediate ceasefire and a political solution consistent with the principles of UN Security Council resolution 1701.

We reiterate our full support to UNIFIL and the important work it does every day. Further violence leading to civil casualties and population displacements risks forcing the country into chaos, fuelling even greater instability in the region.

In all crises around the world, the UK and France stand united on the side of humanitarian law. We’ve demonstrated it once again this week by championing a UN Security Council resolution for the protection of civilians in Sudan where the worst crisis in the world is unravelling – an effort shamelessly opposed by Putin’s Russia, who stood alone in casting a veto.
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In the face of major crises and huge challenges, more than a century after the signing of the “Entente Cordiale”, the UK and France stand united in the same spirit.

We are strengthening our bilateral relationship, and working toward enhanced relations between the UK and the European Union. We are offering a credible alternative to the world’s “Putinisation” and fragmentation.

An alternative grounded in technological progress, international law and multilateral action. The world can count on the UK and France to advocate these principles in the years ahead.