Author: HM Government

The UK supported Ukraine in calling for today’s meeting.  Colleagues, last Friday, Russia asked the Council to meet following an alleged incident in occupied Luhansk, which UN briefers said they had not been able to verify because Russia refuses access to Ukrainian territory which it occupies.  The very next day, Russia launched one of its […]

Overview ReSET is a bilateral programme between the United Kingdom and Uganda that supports the transition of Uganda’s refugee response away from a predominantly humanitarian model to one that strengthens self‑reliance and resilience of refugees. The business case was approved in March 2026. The project under this call for proposal which forms part of ReSET programme will run from August […]

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Thank you, Mr Chair. I would like to warmly welcome Ambassador McGurk – dear Gerard – back to the Permanent Council. Thank you for your concise and focused report and presentation this morning. We commend the OSCE Mission in Kosovo’s sustained and professional work during such a demanding reporting period. Mr Chair, the Mission’s report rightly […]

Thank you, Mr Chair. There are many reasons why Russia should get serious about negotiations on a just and lasting peace in Ukraine:  first and foremost, its war is illegal, unprovoked, and wrong; civilians continue to pay the highest price; and, the scale of destruction inflicted by Russia is beyond anything our continent has seen […]

These 3 primer documents explain how South Africa’s strengths in minerals and metals can underpin growth if persistent logistics constraints are addressed. The bulk minerals and base metals primer summarises global demand patterns for manganese, chromium, iron ore, copper, nickel, cobalt. It explains how they are shaped by industrialisation and the energy transition, and sets […]

This 2-part primer introduces mining’s role in powering global industries and sets the South African context. Mining contributes around 7% of gross domestic product and supports more than 450,000 jobs, underpinned by large platinum group metal reserves and strong positions in gold, manganese, coal and vanadium.  The first report summarise the full value chain from […]

Thank you, Mr Chair. And thank you Chairs also for convening this meeting so promptly. The United Kingdom condemns the latest wave of Russian aerial attacks against Ukraine, carried out overnight on 23-24 May. Russia used around 600 drones and 90 missiles to strike Kyiv and multiple regions across Ukraine. This was the largest attack […]

We are facing a deeply complex set of conflicts, including protracted crises in the Middle East, Sudan, and Ukraine. On this, I feel compelled to mention Russia’s egregious attacks on Ukraine over the weekend, which only brings us further from the peace that the international community repeatedly calls for. These challenges require a coordinated global […]

UK ramps up pressure on Putin’s war machine with tough new sanctions, targeting crypto networks used to bypass Britain’s sanctions.  New sanctions also hit the Kremlin-backed A7 network, which actively exploits Kyrgyzstan’s financial systems to channel funds into Russia’s war economy.   The UK is leading the international effort and adapting its sanctions to stay ahead of Russian evasion, shutting down the payment routes fuelling its war machine against […]