RUSSIA
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the present state of political, cultural, trade and military relations with Russia; and if he will make a statement. [138397]
Mr Lidington, Minister of State: As a fellow permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia is an important global partner to the UK. We have sought to develop the kind of relationship where we work together on areas of mutual interest while standing firm on issues where we disagree. Current engagement includes through our G8 and Russia's G20 presidencies, sharing best practice from London 2012 ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and seeking a deeper foreign policy dialogue over issues such as Syria, Iran and Afghanistan. Both governments are also committed to developing the commercial relationship. Russia is now the UK's eleventh largest export market with exports to Russia increasing faster than to any other major market. Lord Green led a trade delegation of 26 UK businesses to Russia in November with the objective of further developing trade links. To promote greater people to people links, 2014 has been designated as the UK-Russia Year of Culture. In addition, we engage with the Russians on a range of military issues, including our respective reform programmes. There are clearly well-known bilateral issues on which we do not agree, and we have deep concerns over human rights and the rule of law. We seek to make these concerns clear in our bilateral interactions at all levels, and seek to deliver and support projects which will improve the situation on the ground.