Russian drone attacks on Poland and interference with European aircraft navigation are acts of aggression, not accidents. NATO and the EU must respond harshly: increase military aid to Ukraine, expand pressure on Moscow, and demonstrate a willingness to deter.
The West should accelerate its complete rejection of Russian energy resources, shut down “shadow fleet” schemes, and strike at intermediaries such as India, which process Russian oil. The confiscation of Russian assets in Europe and new sanctions should become decisive instruments of pressure.
This was stated in an interview with the Guildhall news agency by Dave Duggan, a member of the British Parliament from the Scottish National Party.
– Unfortunately, I want to start with bad news. Last week, Russian war drones Shahed attacked Poland’s airspace before that. Ursula Von der Lein’s plane made an emergency landing in uh Bulgaria due to Russian jamming GPS. A few days earlier we heard about Russian spy drones over Polish administrative buildings. So, can you consider all these cases as an act of military aggression from Russia?
– The drone attack is certainly an act of military aggression. The jamming of a GPS signal to a plane is a fairly high tariff, grey zone activity. It is aggressive and should be considered so. But the drone attacks, don’t think drone technology is sufficiently vague that you can accidentally cross another sovereign state’s border with drones and pretend it was an accident, not one bit was that an accident. And I’ve said so in parliament.
– I agree with you on that. And how do you think NATO and Europe should react to that action?
– They shouldn’t react in exactly the way that they have, which is too accident. We understand that Russia is probing and that now that Russia is probing the EU and NATO and Poland’s borders, then we take actions to demonstrate that they cannot probe any further. In Ukraine, we believe that the only signal Russia will understand is military aid to Ukraine.
– So do you support uh after that case is a significant increase in military aid to Ukraine?
– So I think I don’t see that as a of step change in the military support for Ukraine. I think the military support for Ukraine had to continue anyway. I think, as we’ve said from the start, this is battle between a Democrat and an autocrat. And we need to make sure that the Democrat wins and we won’t do that for free.
– Thank you for that. And do you support in this context initiatives that Russia must be pressured into peace into peace process?
– Yes, I do. And these keep down to do actually as President Trump is doing, we need to put the squeeze on the states that are allowing revenue to continue to flow into Russia. Now, we won’t intimidate and China because we’re all far too reliant on China. But there are other states, principally India, who rely very heavily on trade with the West and the West relies quite heavily on trade with them. But nevertheless, we need to be very clear that they can’t continue riding two horses like this.
– And sir, what are more additional levels of pressure that haven’t been used yet? maybe some sanctions or other things?
– Yes, sanctions on states like India. I’m about to fly from Edinburgh, I’m about to fly from Heathrow to Edinburgh. The aviation fuel that’s in this plane will, there’s a very good chance, will be m imported from India, which has been refined from Russian oil. And we need to stop pretending that that isn’t happening when we all know fine that it is.
– In this context, it is important to talk about Russian shadow fleet, which is not under comprehensive sanctions and is continuing to fuel Russia’s war budget. What more should be done to that? And is a full blockade in the Baltic possible?
– No, that’s far too inflammatory. And that’s quasi-military. That’s a martial activity interdiction at sea. What is far more important is to make the destinations for that oil no longer want that oil or no longer be able to accept quite so much of that oil. Because, you know, China and India together are massive oil importers, but they’re massive fuel exporters. So we need to make sure that we control commercially the demand for the derivatives of Russian oil and that will choke off the demand for that Russian oil. Nobody wants crude oil. Crude oil is useless, absolutely useless. There’s no use for it, but it’s products after refinement are what people want. So we don’t have to stop. If you stop the demand for the product, you stop the demand for the oil. It’s true.
– Russia also has a lot of assets in Europe and its confiscation could be a massive factor for Moscow to stop the war and to start a real peace protest. So what do you think about it? And do you support the transfer of Russians uh assets to Ukraine, maybe as reparations after the war?
– Yes, I do. I don’t know how it’s done. I think it’s more complex than people think. I think either domestically or internationally, there are property laws that are there to protect people. Ironically, they’re not very well respected in Russia. But I think it’s more complex than people think.
– Thank you sir and also Rosatom which is also not under comprehensive sanctions, it continues nuclear and conventional programs in Russia so what steps should be done to deal with it with Rosatom?
– I can’t speak to that. I’m not close enough to that to understand the ins and outs of it.
– Okay, I understand it. And I want to talk about humanitarian sphere. There are millions of Ukrainians under Russian occupation. They are suffering from it. And lately, Parliament Assembly on the Council of Europe called Russia’s actions there as ethnic cleansing, amounting to genocide. Would you back a similar resolution at home uh in Great Britain?
– I would need to wait for a determination from the International Court of Justice before coming down on a conclusion on that.
– Maybe there should be a call for United Nations mission into the occupied territories to monitor human rights there, because people there are really suffering from Russian occupation?
– Well, you don’t have to be a history scholar to know that Russian occupation is one of the worst occupations you can find yourself subject to. I’m not one bit surprised that Ukrainians are living under a terrible circumstance under Russian occupation. I think it’s difficult to put UN personnel into such a contested area. But again, I’m not an expert on that. And I think Russia would object to that as well, obviously. Of course they would. So it’s a difficult thing to put UN personnel, especially peacekeepers, well wouldn’t be peacekeepers, would be observers, into a space that’s so context-like.
– But how international community could help these people, what should be done to that?
– Well, I think we need to apply pressure to economic pressure. know, money talks, you know, whether we like it or not, money talks and even Russia can’t deliver a war without the funds to deliver a war. And if we can choke off, we don’t have to stop. But if we can substantially reduce the flow of international revenues into Russia, and then we can stop it. They are seizing more territory, but at an incredible cost in money and casualties. And if we can slow down the available resource financially that they have to prosecute that war and that effort, then that’s the best thing that we can do. It’s true.
– And the last question for today is about West. Are East and West united now around the Ukrainian victory and pressure on Russia?
– Yes, of course. The war in Ukraine has cost the people of Ukraine an awful lot. It’s cost them their homes, it’s cost them their livelihoods, it’s cost them their lives, it’s cost them their mobility. The defense of their homeland, and I’ve been to Ukraine twice and spoken to Ukrainians about their preparedness to fight and die for their nation. Like you don’t want to fight Russia. Look at the way the West tiptoes around Russia. And we are collective of supposedly very rich, very well armed with a sophisticated defense force and a highly tuned supply chain to supply our defense. That is true. The West is still far too timid around Russia. Russians aren’t eight foot tall. They’re not eight foot tall. They have a different view of the world to us, but it doesn’t mean that we try and see the world the way they do. We either believe in our principles or we don’t. And I don’t hear any of my constituents saying, we’ve done enough, we should leave Ukraine to it. The UK spent billions. Me and other people have housed Ukrainians in our home and not once have I ever heard somebody say Ukraine just needs to get on with it now. We’ve done enough. That’s not where we are. And that’s got political unanimity.
– Sir, I thank you for your position, for your help, for your work. It’s very important to us. And maybe I could have you your phone number for further communication, maybe for more comments in the future?
– Yeah, do that. Just do it by email though. That’s fine. Email is fine.
– I want to say thank you one more time. It was a great time. See you soon.
– Slava Ukraine!
– Heroyam Slava!
Guildhall news agency, exclusive.
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