Healey tells BBC he condemns Lebanon escalationpublished at 11:32 BST
11:32 BST
Media caption,
‘We welcome the ceasefire, we want it to hold’
The BBC’s Defence Correspondent Jonathan Beale is the first to ask a question. He asks for more clarity on what the Russian submarines were doing in the North Atlantic, and also whether the ceasefire in the Middle East can hold.
On the Middle East, Healey says he welcomes the ceasefire and wants it to hold, but “condemns” the escalation in Lebanon.
Speaking about the submarines, he says that the UK spent more than a month tracking every mile of them. Recognising the Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine as a likely decoy to the two specialist submarines from Russia’s ministry of defence deep sea research programme, Gugi (Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research).
He says they watched the Gugi submarines spend time over “critical infrastructure”, but he is confident that there is no evidence of any damage. This is being verified with allies, he adds.