Oral QuestionDepartment for Exiting the European Union

“If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.”

Tabled: 21 January 2019Answered: 24 January 2019

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

Answer from Hansard

The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Yvette Cooper)

I returned overnight from a series of meetings across five countries in Europe, the middle east and Asia, and I spoke directly with more than a dozen of my Foreign Minister counterparts, as well as joining the 50-country summit hosted by the Prime Minister and President Macron. This is a critical diplomatic moment. The agreed two-week ceasefire runs until Thursday, and we need it to be extended. We need the negotiations to reach a comprehensive conclusion to this conflict, and we need the reopening of the strait with no conditions and no tolls. Our work is to maintain and build the biggest possible consensus around the rapid opening of the strait.