Prime Minister Mark Carney joined several world leaders Saturday, saying a U.S.-backed plan for peace in Ukraine needs “more work.”
The statement came as world leaders gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the G20 summit, which the United States is boycotting. Russia and China are also absent.
Before the G20, U.S. President Donald Trump gave Ukraine until Nov.27 to accept a 28-point plan that could end the war. Washington and Moscow worked together to draft the plan and caters to many of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s longstanding demands while offering limited security guarantees to Ukraine.
Michael Bociurkiw, a Canadian journalist, global affairs analyst and senior fellow at The Atlantic Council, condemned the plan.
”It’s a disaster for Ukraine. If any Ukrainian leader were to sign up for even a part of this so-called plan, it would be the end of Ukraine as we know it, a game over for a sovereign Ukraine,” he said.
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One of the plan’s points includes the recognition of select Ukrainian territories as ”de facto Russian.”
In a recorded speech posted online, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy called the consideration of the plan one of the most difficult moments in Ukrainian history.
“Now, Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice: Either a loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” Zelenskyy said in his online address.
Zelenskyy “is in a very, very difficult position right now,” Bociurkiw said. “He either sides with Mr. Trump, Ukraine’s most important ally, or he fights for Ukrainian sovereignty and integrity. And of course, it’s the latter that he’s going to choose.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney joined 12 other world leaders in responding to the American plan via statement.
“We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack,” the statement read in part.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada is at the summit as a partner of Ukraine.
‘The core values that drive the foreign policy of our country vis-à-vis Ukraine rests on the territorial integrity of Ukraine in particular and the respecting of the geographical boundaries,” Anand said.
”If we are continually saying that we have to respect the rule of law and that Ukraine is a sovereign country and that territorial integrity is fundamental, then the natural extension of those three principles is that Ukraine must be making decisions for its own future in terms of its own territorial integrity, in terms of its boundaries, in terms of it’s people.”
G20 leaders will remain in South Africa until the end of the summit on Sunday.
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