The education secretary has emphasised that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reviewing Ukrainian needs. Sir Keir Starmer will become the first British prime minister to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in six years when the leaders hold talks at the G20 summit in Brazil on Monday.The Labour PM pledged to have “serious, pragmatic discussions” when they speak.
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00:00The news that President Biden has authorised Ukraine to use American-made missiles into Russian territory.
00:06Can we expect a similar permission from the Prime Minister relating to UK-made weapons soon?
00:13Good morning. We remain steadfast in our support to the Ukrainian people.
00:17Almost 1,000 days into this conflict, they've suffered unimaginable hardship and loss
00:22and have made extraordinary sacrifice.
00:24You'll appreciate that the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary will always keep under review
00:29what the Ukrainian people and their military require.
00:32And going into the G20, the Prime Minister has set out very clearly
00:36that the Ukrainian people and President Zelensky have our full backing.
00:39That's always been on a cross-party basis in Parliament
00:42and that's the approach we've taken from government to continue that approach.
00:47In terms of whether it's likely to come immediately or not, I mean, has this been discussed at Cabinet?
00:52You'll appreciate I can't comment on those kinds of discussions, but as I say,
00:56the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary will always keep under review
00:59what the Ukrainian government ask of us.
01:01By way of support, we have provided considerable military assistance
01:05to the Ukrainian people in their fight against that terrible Russian aggression that we have seen.
01:10And as we come up to that 1,000 days of the conflict,
01:13it's more stark than ever at what the Ukrainian people have had to go through.
01:17I guess the only added point is that the UK for some time,
01:21both under the previous premiership and under your own premiership,
01:24has been looking to grant this permission and the hold-up,
01:28as we were led to believe, was the US.
01:30So with that hold-up removed,
01:32is it fair to expect that British permission will be forthcoming too?
01:37As I say, I'm not seeking to be difficult here, but these are sensitive matters
01:41that are rightly kept under review by the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary.
01:46And going into the G20, what the Prime Minister has said
01:49is that we continue to back the Ukrainian people.
01:52That was the approach taken by the last government.
01:54It's the approach that we have continued to take.
01:56And I think it's right that we as a nation stand behind the Ukrainian people in their hour of need.