UK goods trade with Russia soared by 20% in last year as Lib Dems challenge Labour’s stalling progress on seizing frozen Russian assets

EMBARGO: Immediate Release 

The Liberal Democrats have slammed a recent spike in the goods trade between Russia and the UK – including tens of millions of pounds spent on importing Russian planes – as the party prepares a parliamentary bill to seize billions in frozen assets.

A Government dossier unearthed by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that the UK’s import of goods from Russia soared this year, with the party castigating the Government’s failure to stop UK money flowing into Putin’s war chest.

Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Russia stood at a staggering £1.7 billion to the end of June 2025. The UK imported £80 million of Russian goods in that period – an increase of 21.2% on the previous financial year – and £364 million in services.

The UK also imported £36 million worth of Russian aircraft across the same period, up by a shocking 75% compared to the previous year. The Liberal Democrats said the spike in British expenditure on Russian planes raised “serious security concerns” about why so much more was being spent on Moscow-manufactured aircraft compared to the previous year, and what the planes were doing in the UK.

The Liberal Democrats’ Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said the revelation was “appalling”.

The news comes as the Lib Dems prepare to table a Bill in Parliament next week to seize the estimated £25 billion held in frozen Russian assets across the UK. The bill, led by the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller MP, comes hot on the heels of stalled efforts in Brussels to secure Europe-wide agreement on asset seizure.

Calum Miller, Foreign Affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said:

“Under this government’s watch, Britain has imported more Russian goods and paid tens of millions to buy Moscow’s planes. The British public will be appalled that the UK is continuing to fill Putin’s war chest. 

“There are serious security concerns and questions about what imported Russian planes are doing in Britain, why so much more is now being spent on them, and whether this trade undermines the sanctions in place to strangle the Kremlin’s coffers.

“Putin must be punished, not rewarded, for his barbaric assault on the brave people of Ukraine. The Liberal Democrats’ Bill would see billions in frozen Russian assets seized - to be used to support the defence of President Zelensky’s proud nation. I urge MPs from all parties to vote with us.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

First reported in The Observer.

Bill details:

Russian Frozen Assets (Seizure and Aid to Ukraine) Bill

Bill to make provision about the seizure of frozen assets connected to the Russian Federation; to require the Secretary of State to publish recommendations about the use of such assets to fund military, reconstruction and humanitarian work in Ukraine; and for connected purposes.