This afternoon the Prime Minister spoke to the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Romania, Japan, European Commission, European Council, and the NATO Secretary General about the situation in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister updated the leaders on his visit to Kyiv earlier this month. He underscored the critical need for further military support to Ukraine in the face of a major Russian offensive in the Donbas and ongoing attacks elsewhere.

The leaders agreed to work together to find a long-term security solution so that Ukraine could never be attacked in this way again. They discussed the need to increase the pressure on Russia with more sanctions against Putin’s war machine, as well as further diplomatic isolation.

The Prime Minister welcomed President Biden’s leadership, and the allies agreed to work closely together in the weeks and months to come.

The Prime Minister welcomed Prime Minister Barzani of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to Downing Street today.

The leaders highlighted the strength of their relationship, recognising the UK’s deep ties with the Kurdish people. They noted the significant opportunities for greater partnerships across trade and investment.

Acknowledging the ongoing challenges to regional security, the Prime Minister voiced his enduring commitment to Iraqi stability and the counter-Daesh operations across the Middle East.

The Prime Minister updated Prime Minister Barzani on his recent visit to Kyiv and reiterated the need for the international community to continue to push back against Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Barzani spoke about his aspiration to export energy to Europe, and the Prime Minister lauded his efforts to help reduce Western reliance on Russian oil and gas.

The ‘UK-Indonesia Roadmap’ between the 2 democracies commits to closer working across a range of important areas from trade and investment, to counterterrorism and cyber security.

It will also boost our security and defence relations, with new defence cooperation, joint training and jungle warfare exercises with the British Army in the pipeline.

The agreement, personally signed off by the Foreign Secretary, will also support a free and open Indo-Pacific, as well as enhance collaboration on investment in sustainable infrastructure projects and industries of the future, like electric vehicles and green technology.

Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss said:

Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country, a strong democracy with a vibrant economy and a vital part of our efforts to defend freedom, peace and stability.

Deeper ties are a win-win, delivering jobs and opportunities for British people while ensuring an open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The UK-Indonesia Roadmap will also commit to closer ties with the Indonesian economy, which is forecast to more than quintuple in GDP (PPP$), with 532% growth between 2020 and 2050.

Indonesia is one of the world’s most largely populated countries (272 million) and by 2050, forecast to be the world’s fourth largest economy. They share UK values on international law, multilateralism and democracy with the new ‘Roadmap’ set to turbocharge relations.

Ties will also be boosted by the UK’s offer of over £4 billion to finance long-term projects with British expertise and the relaunched British International Investment (BII) entering the Southeast Asian market later this year.

Mike brings with him a wealth of experience, most recently, serving as Chief Operating Officer of the Department for Education (DfE) and Director General of their Operations Directorate. His previous roles include Director of Commercial at DfE and Departmental Lead for the response to Grenfell. Before joining the Civil Service, Mike was a civil engineer and spent his career in the private sector working for companies such as Boots. 

Mike said:

I’m honoured to join DIO today as its Chief Executive. DIO is an organisation I’ve been watching with interest from the sidelines for many years.

Over the next few months, I will be getting to know the organisation and working closely with our customers to ensure that the needs of Service Personnel and families are at the forefront of everything we do.

MOD Permanent Secretary David Williams said:

Mike brings a wealth of very relevant leadership, commercial, transformation and delivery experience and the strong customer focus required to deliver effective service improvements.

DIO Board Chairperson Neil Sachdev said:  

It’s an exciting time in DIO’s journey, as it steps up to the challenge of delivering against its ambitious 10-year strategy. Mike joins us at a time when DIO steps up to deliver for our customers, creating a world- class Defence estate.

Mike replaces former Chief Executive Graham Dalton, who retired from DIO last month.

DIO is the estate expert for Defence, supporting the Armed Forces to enable military capability by planning, building, maintaining, and servicing infrastructure.