Ukrainians should have no doubt about Canada’s commitment to their country, Prime Minister Carney said on Sunday as he made a surprise visit to Kyiv to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day.
On what was his first trip to the war-torn nation, Carney gave a speech in Sophia Square in front of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Mr. President, dear friends, my message today is simple: Canada will always stand in solidarity with Ukraine,” he said.
“We will be always with you, so your many sacrifices lead to the peace, security and prosperity that all Ukrainians — that all peoples — deserve.”
He said Ukraine’s cause — of freedom, democracy and sovereignty — is Canada’s cause.
Carney left Canada early Saturday for the trip, that will also include stops in Poland, Germany and Latvia. He arrived in Kyiv by train early Sunday. The Ukraine leg of the trip was made under a media blackout for security reasons.
Carney and Defence Minister David McGuinty were greeted Sunday morning at the Kyiv main train station by Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine Natalka Cmoc and Ukrainian government officials including ambassador-designate for Ukraine to Canada Andrii Plakhotniuk.
The prime minister was invited as a special guest of Zelenskyy for the state holiday marking 34 years since Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Carney noted that Canada was the first western nation to recognize Ukrainian independence under former prime minister Brian Mulroney.
In his speech, Carney said his own upbringing reflected Ukraine and its diaspora in Canada.
“I grew up on the Canadian prairies where my horizon looked like your flag. Where my classmates bore your names, and their parents and grandparents spoke your language,” he said.
“The Ukrainian people are part of Canada’s story, a story whose best chapters are yet to be written.”
Zelenskyy addressed the crowd ahead of Carney, saying in Ukrainian that it was an honour to have the prime minister for his first official visit to Ukraine.
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After his speech, Carney joined Zelenskyy and the president’s wife, Olena Zelenska, to lay flowers at the wall of remembrance of the fallen.
Carney also announced more details of the $2-billion aid package Canada pledged at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., earlier this year.
More than $1 billion of that support will come in the form of drones, ammunition and armoured vehicles, he said. Another $680 million will fund a package of military equipment prioritized by NATO to be delivered to Ukraine next month.
Canada will also fund the joint production of defence materials such as advanced drones from Canadian suppliers, Carney said. His pledge includes tens of millions of dollars in funding for emergency medical and shelter relief and support to protect against digital attacks and other threats to Ukrainian democracy.
Carney said in French that Ukraine is at a critical moment of the war, and that the support of the international community must intensify.
His visit comes a week after U.S. President Donald Trump tried to move the peace process along, first hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, and then Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House a few days later.
Carney said during his speech that he applauds “the leadership of the transformative U.S. President Donald Trump in creating the possibilities for peace.”
Despite those talks, Moscow unleashed a heavy barrage of strikes on Ukraine earlier this week and continues to insist it must be involved in any security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelenskyy has rejected any such involvement.
Carney, in his speech, blamed Putin for the terror facing Ukrainians.
“But Putin can be stopped. Russia’s economy is weakening. He is becoming more isolated. And our alliance is hardening. It’s growing more effective, more determined, more united,” Carney said.
A Canadian government official briefing reporters before the trip, said Russia is making “slow” progress in its campaign to retake Ukrainian soil.
Canadian intelligence suggests Russia is losing 1,000 soldiers per day in the conflict while Ukraine is estimated to be losing about 500 soldiers daily, the official said.
Russia has been recruiting soldiers from other counties, such as North Korea, to sustain its war effort, the official said.
That has caused a lack of alignment in training in the Russian ranks leading to a loss of morale, giving Ukraine an advantage on that front.
Canada has been part of talks for more than two years seeking to help secure any sort of peace deal in Ukraine.
Those talks morphed last fall into the Coalition of the Willing, a group of nations seeking to contribute to maintaining peace in Ukraine, if a ceasefire is reached. It includes most European nations as well as Canada, Japan and Australia.
“When that peace comes … Canada will be there,” Carney said in his speech.
“We will be there with you to promote peace, security and prosperity for Ukraine once the killing stops.”
Experts say Canada has a vested interest in allying with Ukraine and other Western nations in guarding against an expansionist Russia, particularly in Arctic territories.
The Canadian official said it’s important within the coalition to keep momentum building instead of having steps back as in the past.
Many obstacles still exist to securing a peace deal, including determining conditions for a ceasefire and the fate of Russian-occupied territories and the Donbas.
Moscow illegally annexed Crimea and its forces hold parts of four other regions outside the Donbas. In all, Russia holds about one-fifth of Ukraine.
Ukraine is also seeking security guarantees against any future Russian incursion.
Security guarantees will be largely dependent on the United States. Trump said in recent days that there will be no U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine but suggested air presence and intelligence support could be part of any security guarantees in an eventual peace deal.
There are Canadian soldiers in Europe as part of Operation Unifier, a mission to train Ukrainian soldiers launched after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Canada has not ruled out putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, the official said.
Canada’s support so far in the conflict includes $22 billion in financial support for Ukraine, largely in the form of loans, according to Ottawa’s tallies. A separate, independent estimate from the Kiel group pegs this amount closer to $19.7 billion.
Canada has an outsized role in humanitarian initiatives, such as work to resettle Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, maintain maternal health services and the detection and removal of landmines.
— With files from Craig Lord in Warsaw and the Associated Press
