War
18th of March 2025 My Lords, last Thursday, the noble Lord, Lord Howell, asked the House to take note of the UK’s international position. My purpose today is narrower but more urgent; to ask the Government what their Ukraine policy now is. It is urgent because the Trump Administration have torn up the familiar script. … Continue reading Lord Skidelsky to ask His Majesty’s Government what is their policy with regard to the Ukraine war following the new policy of the government of the United States of America.
6th of March 2025 My Lords, I will not speak directly to the proposals of the report to improve our military capabilities but will consider the framework in which they are set. The report’s underlying assumption is that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made Europe a much more dangerous place, against which we have to … Continue reading House of Lords Speech – Ukraine: “A wake up call” (International Relations and Defence Committee Report)
Two months ago, I saw No Other Land in a large movie theatre in Brussels. No Other Land is a documentary made by a team of two Palestinians and two Israeli. We follow their reporting on the years-long destruction of Masafer Yatta, a village on the Palestinian Westbank, by Israeli forces. The Israeli State, backed […]
The Guardian – 25th of February 2025 “By refusing to back negotiations for the past three years, the UK has become irrelevant to the search for peace – we must change course” On the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, British policy towards the war is in a mess. The continuing official British position, echoed … Continue reading Britain’s insistence on total Ukrainian victory was misguided – it’s time for a realistic compromise
15th of February 2025 Europe is coming to grips with new global realities. James Carden of The American Conservative and David Speedie of the Carnegie Council’s Global Engagement Program sat down with Baron Robert Sidelsky to discuss his newfound optimism regarding a settlement between Russia and Ukraine and Europe’s continued dependence on American security guarantees. … Continue reading The American Conservative: Skidelsky on Russia, Ukraine and the Future of European Security
1st of January 2025 Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election of November 2024 has shredded the liberal script about the Ukraine war. That script was to offer unconditional moral and material support for a Ukrainian victory, defined minimally as recovery of the invaded territories of Crimea and Donbass. In Britain, it was considered … Continue reading The American Conservative – Why Is the UK So Invested in the Russia–Ukraine War?