Ottawa debating sending more troops to eastern Europe and weapons to Ukraine

OTTAWA — As the Canadian Parliament held a special debate on rising Russia-Ukraine tensions, the Liberal government said it was weighing Ukraine’s request to send more money and weapons, and looking at deploying more troops to NATO operations in eastern Europe.

Canada already has about 900 army, navy and air force personnel assigned to NATO’s Operation Reassurance in Latvia, and Defense Minister Anita Anand told reporters in Ukraine that “we are definitely considering the further support that we can provide in this area.”

“Decisions are ongoing,” Anand said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons Monday night Canada remains “steadfast” in its support for Ukraine.

“Canada has a long history of standing up to bullies, but that (that) does not mean we want conflict,” he said.

He said the democratic choices of Ukrainians have to be respected but Russia is “seeking confrontation” and trying to “destabilize a sovereign democratic state” in breach of the UN Charter.

“That’s why Canada and its allies have been clear that any further incursion into Ukraine will provoke the severe costs and serious consequences including the imposition of co-ordinated sanctions.”

Earlier the prime minister deflected demands by Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole for weapons for Ukraine, saying the Liberal government has been “listening to Ukraine in terms of what it needs most.”

Trudeau pointed to the government’s decision last week to add 60 personnel to the Canadian training mission in Ukraine. That is on top of 200 soldiers already there. Trudeau said that deployment could surge to 400, if it is extended for another three years.

Ottawa has also offered financial aid with a $ 120 million loan and $ 50 million in humanitarian support. In total, the federal government says since 2014, Canada has provided Ukraine with more than $ 890 million in “multifaceted assistance to support Ukraine’s security, prosperity, and reform objectives.”

“We continue to deliver the aid, whether it is monetary or military, that Ukrainians need,” Trudeau said.

However the Conservative party demanded to know why the government has not yet sent “lethal defensive weapons” as allies like the US, UK, Poland and the Czech Republic have done.

“Diplomacy not backed by credible threats of military force use is nothing more than empty talk and rhetoric,” said Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong.

“When will the government quit being so naive about its foreign policy and ensure that it counts the threats coming from authoritarian regimes like Russia?”

O’Toole criticized the government for pulling family members of Kyiv embassy staff out, saying the Trudeau government has offered only “hollow words” and not the weapons Ukraine has asked for.

“Is Canada that friend and ally? Is Canada living up to its reputation as a founding member of NATO? ” O’Toole asked.

O’Toole said everything Canada’s done for Ukraine were initiatives of the past Conservative government, which his party had to push the Liberals to extend.

“What do we have from this prime minister? We have hashtags… twitter diplomacy but not standing with our NATO allies. ”

“Canada is missing in action.”

Bloc Québécois MP Stéphane Bergeron suggested Canada is doing nothing but “crying wolf” and not trying to directly engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trudeau retorted that “Putin knows full well our position because I have said it to him many times over the years.”

Traveling in Ukraine on the weekend, Anand told reporters cabinet is considering the request from Ukraine’s government for weapons. “The issue is not off the table,” she said. “We will continue to monitor the evolving and fluid situation and make decisions accordingly.”

Anand underscored that Ukraine has recognized the importance of the Canadian training mission, and its leader Lieut.-Col. Luc Gilbert said “that Ukraine wants more of us.”

After meetings in Ukraine, the defense minister was headed to Brussels where she is scheduled to meet Tuesday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, before heading to Latvia to meet with the Canadians stationed there.

Last week Trudeau had said Canada’s trainers would continue their work in the west of Ukraine, where he suggested any risk to their safety is lessened.

Although the Ukraine government has publicly said it does not believe a further Russian invasion is imminent, Anand said Canada is acting out of “an abundance of caution.”

On Monday she said that her talks with Ukraine’s defense minister Oleksii Reznikov “discussed cyber security in particular, and how important it is to make sure cyber networks are secure.”

Last week, Trudeau offered more intelligence and cyber support to Ukraine.

A spokesman for the foreign intelligence agency, Communications Security Establishment, said CSE “has unique technical and operational capabilities” and the legal authority to assist the Canadian Forces with “technical and operational assistance” in support of military missions such as Operation UNIFIER, the name given to the Ukraine mission.

“This support includes intelligence sharing, cyber security, and cyber operations,” said CSE spokesman Evan Koronewski, declining to discuss specifics. “This increased support will help Ukraine strengthen its security and ability to defend itself against a range of threats.”

On Sunday Anand said there is “sound” intelligence that there are “increasing escalations of Russian troops at the Ukraine border, including in Belarus.”

“We are acting on the basis of that information. By that token, we believe Russia has a choice, and that choice is to negotiate with a view of de-escalation. In the face of non-escalation, Russia will face severe sanctions and consequences. ”

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told the Commons the government has prepared “an array of different economic sanctions against Russia should they further invade.”

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh opposed sending weapons to Ukraine, and focused on the humanitarian toll of Russia’s actions to date. Singh told the Commons that Canada should focus its efforts on diplomacy and “non-lethal assistance.”

“Bloodshed must be avoided through international pressure and stronger sanctions,” he said during the Commons debate late Monday.

“New Democrats stand in solidarity with Ukraine,”

Singh apologized for an “inappropriate” tweet by an NDP MP, and said MP Leah Gazan had personally apologized for tweeting that Canada’s loan to Ukraine was “funding for an anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi & fascist militia.”