Back Zelenskyy and Ukraine with an energy ceasefire, Foreign Secretary tells European partners

• The Foreign Secretary attends Warsaw Security Forum today, which takes place as Ukraine faces another freezing winter, amid escalating Russian energy strikes
• He will call for an end to attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and underline UK's determination to act together with its European partners including to defend against Russian hybrid attacks across the continent
• UK will stress that no ally is immune from Russia's tactics, and that now is the time to double down on protecting UK security by building a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO

Ukrainians facing another winter of blackouts and freezing temperatures will see the Foreign Secretary back President Zelenskyy's support for an energy ceasefire at the Warsaw Security Forum today (Tuesday 13 October).

As Ukraine continues to take steps towards peace, Russia once again looks to weaponize winter and plunge communities into darkness. In the past week alone, Russia has mounted 200 attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure. This is part of a wider pattern of Russian aggression, with the Kremlin firing 1,450 bombs and 1,600 drones at Ukraine in the same time period.

The future of how Europe takes on growing hybrid attacks from hostile states will also be top of the agenda during a panel event where the Foreign Secretary will speak alongside Foreign Ministers of Poland, Germany and Norway. 

The Foreign Secretary is expected to emphasise that Russian actions pose an immediate and urgent threat to the British way of life and will call on European partners to mobilise economic, industrial and political strength with greater purpose to protect their people, interests and way of life. Russia's attempts to disrupt Europe pose an immediate threat to UK security and prosperity.

These are deliberate threats to destabilize the systems that deliver growth and security for Brits, the UK's new National Centre for Information Defence, and new partnership with Germany to tackle hybrid threats, will strengthen the UK's defences against these attempts to threaten our security in our country and across the continent.

These steps are being matched by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, with the UK investing more than £300 billion over the next four years.

Ahead of the Forum, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said:

Last week in Kyiv, I met children who have only known winters marked by strikes, blackouts and the freezing cold. We cannot allow Russian strikes to dictate whether the Ukrainian people can keep their lights on, or turn their heating on, for another winter. 

And Russia is not stopping at Ukraine. Europe's adversaries are testing our defences, targeting our infrastructure through cyber-attacks and sabotage, and attempting to weaken our resolve for Ukraine.  

Those who seek to weaken our democracies thrive on division, so our answer must be unity. We need to back President Zelenskyy and support Ukraine with an energy ceasefire.  

As Putin's war drags on, Russia's ambitions have reached far beyond Ukraine's borders. From almost weekly drone incursions along NATO's eastern flank to cyber-attacks and sabotage targeting critical infrastructure, Moscow's hybrid aggression is being felt across Europe, with Poland on the frontline.  Russia's tactics have the real potential to impact British daily life, as their attempts at hybrid sabotage increasingly target energy, infrastructure and the information space.

In December 2025, a Russian attack on Poland's energy grid came close to leaving half a million people without power in the depths of winter, while a train sabotage the previous month narrowly avoided mass casualties. 

In Poland, the Foreign Secretary has met with Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski where he underlined the UK's solidarity with Poland as they confront Russian threats head-on. They discussed how the UK and Poland Northolt Treaty, signed earlier this year, has deepened cooperation across defence, security and economic resilience, and strengthens joint action to tackle hybrid activities, including cyber and sabotage attacks.

The Foreign Secretary's approach to foreign policy is driven by his values, values rooted in his family's history. In Warsaw, the Foreign Secretary has encountered that history first hand in a visit to the Jewish Historical Institute. The Foreign Secretary met with the Director, Dr Micha Trbacz, and archivist Aleksandra Szarapanowska, who were able to show the Foreign Secretary some archives directly related to his family.