Fury as Labour peer accuses 'out of control' Ukrainian president Zelensky of 'scuppering' Russia peace deal with drone strikes on Kremlin airfields
A Labour peer triggered outrage today by suggesting Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky was 'out of control' and jeopardising efforts to end the war with Russia by approving a major drone strike.
Octogenarian Lord Dale Campbell-Savours stunned the House of Lords by suggesting Mr Zelensky had been 'allowed to run amok' with his country's celebrated weekend attack on Russian airfields.
The former MP suggested the embattled war leader had 'scuppered' the chances of reaching a truce in the deadly conflict being sought by US president Trump.
Ukraine's Security Service claim the attack, dubbed operation Spider Web, destroyed or damaged 41 Russian aircraft, including strategic bombers.
At the same time, Russia has continued to carry out strikes across Ukraine, including the targeting of residential areas.
Lord Campbell-Savours, whose son is a Labour MP, was swiftly rebuked in the Lords by figures on all sides, including foreign minister Baroness Chapman of Darlington.
Former defence chief Lord Stirrup, who led the Armed Forces from 2006 to 2010, icily said: 'Has the minister noticed any reticence or reluctance on the part of President Putin to killing Ukrainian civilians while so-called peace talks continue?
'And has she identified any actions at all on the part of the American administration to try and compel President Putin down that path of reticence?'
US President Donald Trump said this week Mr Putin had told him 'very strongly' in a phone call that he would respond to Ukraine's daring drone attack on Russian air bases.
Mr Zelensky, who has accepted a US ceasefire proposal and offered to meet Mr Putin in an attempt to break the stalemate in negotiations, wants more international sanctions on Russia to force it to accept a settlement.
But Mr Putin has shown no willingness to meet Mr Zelensky and has indicated no readiness to compromise.
US-led diplomatic efforts to end the long-running war have so far failed to make any significant progress.
Raising the issue in Parliament, Lord Campbell-Savours said: 'Whilst recognising the sheer bravado of those who executed operation Spider Web, we have to accept that action has undermined Trump's wider initiative, jeopardised his offer on the provision of security guarantees, and hardened Russia's attitude on conflict resolution.
'How can we ever secure a settlement and avoid substantial defence costs being imposed on European taxpayers, if Zelensky is allowed to run amok with unilateral actions, therefore scuppering any prospect of an early settlement.
'Why can't we, with our long experience in diplomacy, think out of the box and engage with Trump's people in discussions with Russia over measures to end this war.
'We can't rely on Zelensky. He's out of control.'
However, the peer's controversial view was rejected outright by Baroness Chapman, who said she 'profoundly' disagreed and repeated the UK Government's staunch support for Kyiv.
She pointed out it was Russia's leader Vladimir Putin who could end the war, which he had triggered by his full-scale invasion in 2022.
She added: 'President Trump wants to see peace. We want to see peace. President Zelensky has agreed to a ceasefire.
'The person who could achieve that ceasefire, who could bring peace to Ukraine, who could see the children return to their homes, is President Putin.'
Her Tory counterpart Lord Callanan said: 'I completely agree with the minister's sentiments.
'I think Lord Campbell-Savours is absolutely wrong, and all of us who are strong supporters of Ukraine were greatly encouraged by the recent audacious attack on the Russian airfields, in which nobody was killed by the way, it was just equipment that was damaged.
'But to secure Ukrainian sovereignty in the longer term, it is vital that Ukraine possesses armed forces which have a strong strategic and tactical advantage in the region.
'So could the minister please update the House on the steps that the Government is taking to support the Ukrainian military, to ensure that it has troops which are well trained, well equipped in the longer term to our high standards to help deter further Russian aggression?'
Lady Chapman pointed out the UK had committed £3 billion a year for as long as Ukraine needed it and also signed a '100-year' pact, which formalised economic and military support provided by Britain.
She also highlighted UK efforts to establish a peacekeeping mission that would enforce a possible future ceasefire in Ukraine, a so-called coalition of the willing.
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- Reuters
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39 minutes ago
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Kim Jong-un sits captivated. Leaning forward with binoculars raised, the North Korean dictator watches tanks manoeuvring over sandy terrain and troops rappelling down from helicopters. Occasionally, he turns to one of the uniformed officers behind him to point something out or ask a question. The scene, captured on video and shared by North Korea's state media last month, offered a rare glimpse into the secretive regime's expanding military capabilities. The isolated country, known for its intensely authoritarian regime, boasts the world's fourth-largest military, with nearly 1.3 million troops. It also has 50 nuclear warheads, with plans to build 150 more by 2027. A recent assessment from the US department of defence found North Korea had reached its 'strongest strategic position' in decades. 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In return, the Kremlin allowed Pyongyang to have its pick of sophisticated hardware – a huge boost for a regime that commands predominantly outdated, Soviet-era weaponry. While North Korea still has a long way to go in terms of upgrading all of its inventory, the newly strengthened ties with Moscow have reinforced the regime's strength and power. With a defence budget less than one per cent the size of China's, North Korea has had to choose between conventional and nuclear weapons. Kim has largely sided with the nuclear program. Earlier this year, a new intercontinental ballistic missile site was detected near Pyongyang where Kim's 'Winter Palace' once stood, marking the latest developments in the country's nuclear progress. Expanding these capabilities has allowed North Korea to create an effective deterrent against the US, especially in case of any future conflict with South Korea, but it has done this at the expense of upgrading conventional weapons like tanks, warships and fighter jets. 'North Korea has a lot of conventional military power – lots of troops, lots of tanks, but the aircraft are 1950s era,' said Michael Cohen, an associate professor at the Australian National University. 'I suspect Tom Cruise has had more time flying them than the North Korean pilots.' A year before Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed their defence treaty, Kim visited a rocket launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in far eastern Russia. Leonid Petrov, a leading North Korea expert and dean of the International College of Management in Australia, described the visit as a 'shopping trip' for Kim as he 'named the price for sending North Korean troops and conventional armaments' to Russia. 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Bringing in cash North Korea is subject to dozens of sanctions, imposed by the United Nations, the European Union and governments including the United Kingdom, which aim to cut off Pyongyang from the international banking system as well as arms sales. While Russia has become an increasingly important partner in circumventing these restrictions, Pyongyang's relationship with China has also helped keep it afloat. Beijing is believed to have provided Pyongyang with military and nuclear expertise and a huge chunk of its foreign currency. 'China has been bankrolling the North Korean regime for a long time. About 95% of North Korean trade was with China for decades,' said Dr Petrov. Ms Hosaniak explained that North Korea is able to produce commercial goods domestically at a very cheap rate in forced labour camps, then sell them to the international market through China. She said: 'These goods can be sold in the EU, the UK…There are no restrictions, as long as the labels say 'Made in China', although the goods were produced in North Korea.' Companies facilitating this trade almost always need to have state backing to do so. 'In order to trade with North Korea you have to have an official North Korean trading partner so this is really a government-to-government kind of business that is operated by so-called private businesses,' Ms Hosaniak said. Beyond commercial ties with China, the North Korean regime has also brought in cash through cyber theft, especially from overseas workers. Local news outlet Daily NK reported that dozens of researchers from North Korea had been sent to China and Southeast Asia earlier this year to carry out attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges, engage in illegal cryptocurrency mining and target network firewalls. Pyongyang was also revealed to be carrying out an illegal scheme known as 'laptop farming', in which dozens of laptops in the US were being remotely controlled by thousands of North Koreans using stolen identities. Through these increasingly refined schemes, North Korean hackers have stolen an estimated $6 billion (£4.4 billion) in cryptocurrency, according to analysis firm Chainalysis. Shattering illusions As Kim expands his country's defence and revenue streams, he also has to contend with a population of over 25 million people. The most effective way of doing this is to wage a full blown information war. 'The more information that North Koreans get, the more they would know that their government isn't being entirely truthful and life perhaps is better on the other side,' said Shreyas Reddy, the lead correspondent at local outlet NK News. Before the advent of the internet, it was significantly easier to do this, but now Pyongyang has had to develop its own technology and enforce new, draconian laws. A key way that outside information has entered the country was through USB sticks and CDs. These contain a wide variety of media, from South Korean media to much more sensitive information about human rights and politics. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a major blow to these efforts, as North Korea shut its borders and erected an electric fence between it and China. A new law introduced in 2020 also increased the punishment for anyone caught consuming or sharing foreign media and in 2023, Kim outlawed common South Korean phrases and made it illegal to speak in a South Korean accent. 'Videos smuggled out of North Korea show people being punished severely for these sorts of incidents and we've heard unverified reports about executions or other permanent punishments for watching or accessing foreign culture,' said Mr Reddy. The constant evolution of censorship and propaganda efforts have allowed Kim to retain an upper hand in the long-standing information war upon which his reign depends. Most experts agree that North Korea will continue on the same trajectory. Kim is only 41 years old and has put in place numerous mechanisms to ensure that his grip on power remains ironclad, while also posing a major threat to enemies abroad. His newly cemented partnership with Russia, forged from shared isolation, is the latest of these efforts. 'Politically, economically, militarily, it makes them stronger,' said Dr Petrov. 'Both need this alliance. It's a mutually beneficial symbiosis of dictatorial regimes, which have been at war with their neighbours for many years.'
