§ 10. Mrs. GilroyIf he will make a statement on United Kingdom-Russia naval co-operation. [20205]
§ Mr. George RobertsonIn November 1997 in Moscow, the Russian Defence Minister, Marshal Sergeyev, and I agreed that our two navies should co-operate closely together to improve inter-operability in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. Last month, we were able to follow this up by endorsing proposals on a programme of joint training leading to a short combined deployment in 1999.
§ Mrs. GilroyI welcome that statement. Are there any implications in it for my constituency of Plymouth, Sutton? My right hon. Friend may recollect that it was a Plymouth frigate, HMS Avenger, which was the first after the end of the cold war to visit Novorossiysk in Russia, with which we have been twinned for a number of years. I am sure that my constituents would welcome a return visit from the Russian navy—a friendly one.
§ Mr. RobertsonBefore I respond to my hon. Friend's friendly question, I must rectify an omission in that I did not register the sympathy expressed by the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) to my hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces. I know that he will very much welcome the views of the Scottish National Party and of Plaid Cymru in his moment of tragedy.
I hope that Plymouth will play a major part in the historic new relationship that we are establishing between the Royal and Russian navies. We have invited the Russian navy to Plymouth to view surface sea training facilities and to discuss associated training methods and techniques. We always welcome foreign warships at flag officer sea training in Plymouth and we would be very pleased if the Russian navy made use of those facilities, as other nations do.