In his latest column, High Peak MP Robert Largan has written about the ongoing tensions at the border of Ukraine and Russia.

The situation in Ukraine is deeply troubling. As I write, nearly 130,000 Russian troops are massed on the border and security services in both London and Washington have reason to believe that the Kremlin is working to create a pretext for an invasion, with plans already underway to install a new puppet regime in Kiev.

Vladimir Putin is nothing short of a thug on the world stage. Under Putin, Russia has disregarded international conventions and nations’ right to self-determination.

We have seen this in the UK, with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in 2018.

Russian aggression in Ukraine is the result of their feeling threatened – not by the West’s military force, but by our freedoms and democracy. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, countries across Eastern Europe finally got the opportunity to determine their own future.

The UK has a proud history of defending democracy and the rule of law. After all, the UK was one of the founding members of NATO, with the then-Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin referring to the signing of the agreement as a ‘consecration for peace’. Now is not the time to abandon that commitment.

I am proud of the responsible, decisive action that the UK has shown. Since 2015, following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, the UK has provided military training and defensive equipment to Ukrainian forces under Operation Orbital. This programme has been accelerated over recent weeks, with new anti-armour weapons being flown into the country.

In the face of Russian aggression, it is vital that the West show a united front. It has been disappointing, therefore, to see mixed messages from European leaders. More than a third of Europe’s gas is supplied by Russia, with Germany signing-off on a new pipeline which will double its reliance.

Long-term, the crisis in Ukraine has severe consequences for the cost of energy both in the UK and worldwide. Last year alone, domestic gas prices increased by nearly a third.

Whilst the UK is not directly reliant on imports of Russian gas, we are reliant on imports of liquid natural gas. Any pressure on global supply chains will ramp up the cost of wholesale gas, first hitting energy companies and then household bills.

This demonstrates the importance of increasing our energy security, through more UK-based energy production and storage facilities. I am pleased with the work that is already underway, with the new Nuclear Energy Financing Bill in Parliament making it easier to commission new small modular nuclear reactors. We’re also leading the world on offshore wind energy.

But more needs to be done. I have regularly met with ministers to discuss the concerns of businesses in High Peak and over the coming weeks I will also be using my voice in Parliament to make the case for more support in the short-term to help households hit by rising energy bills.

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