Whether it is aware of recent media reporting, including in The Herald, The Times and The Guardian, regarding the involvement of Scotland-b…

Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict the Scottish Government has urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. We fully support the UK Government’s sanctions regime against Russia and apply additional discretionary economic measures, whereby the Scottish Government and its economic agencies will not support trade and investment activity with Russia.The case of Seapeak, and their role in transporting Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to European countries, was previously raised in the Scottish Parliament on 4 September 2024 by Patrick Harvie MSP (S6O-03656).Importing LNG into the UK is prohibited by the UK’s Russian sanctions regime, however, equivalent sanctions are not yet in place in the EU.Sanctions are a reserved matter over which the Scottish Government has no control we are therefore limited in the action we can directly take. However in September 2024, I wrote to the then UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and raised the case of Seapeak and also encouraged the UK Government to take all possible action to ensure the effectiveness of the UK’s sanctions regime in exerting pressure on the Russian regime.My position on Russia has been clear since its invasion of Ukraine and I have urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. Beyond consideration of potential reputational, economic or security implications, the Scottish Government has made clear that it stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian government and its people and resolutely condemns Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.I therefore welcome recent developments in the EU and UK sanctions regimes against Russia, with the EU sanctions banning the import of Russian LNG from January 2027 and the UK Government’s intention to ban maritime services on Russian LNG, to be phased in over 2026.As outlined in my response to your PQ S6W-43449 on 10 February 2026, I plan to write to the UK Government regarding these developments in due course.All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament