'The world is getting darker,' defence minister says as Canada sends more aid to Ukraine
Canada doesn’t have the air defence systems Ukraine wants, but Anita Anand says we have plenty to offer
Canada may not have the air defence systems that Ukraine is desperately seeking from its international allies, but Defence Minister Anita Anand says the country still has plenty to offer in the way of military aid.
NATO defence ministers, including Anand, gathered in Brussels this week, just days after Russia launched missile attacks that struck civilian homes and vital infrastructure in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Russian attacks on the country have intensified over the last week. On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said Kyiv was struck by Iranian-made kamikaze drones.
Ukraine has asked its NATO allies for air defence systems to deflect the Russian onslaught, and the United States, France and Germany have all promised to provide them. Canada, meanwhile, announced a new $47-million aid package on Wednesday that includes ammunition, winter clothing and high-tech cameras for drones.
Anand spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal about the situation in Ukraine. Here is part of their conversation.
Minister Anand, we know the Canadian Government has already contributed more than $600 million in what you've called "comprehensive aid." But I'm wondering what more Canada still has to offer Ukraine?
I am so glad you asked that question, Nil, because we have put on the table a series of military aid and equipment in various tranches, and this week's announcement of another approximately $50 million in new military aid comes at a time when Ukraine is requesting specific equipment that Canada is providing. For example, 500,000 pieces of winter clothing, combat boots, parkas, thermal layers, overalls, balaclavas — those are items that Ukrainians need to fight and win this war.
In addition, we are supplying them with M777 howitzers, as you already probably know, and 155-millimetre NATO standard artillery rounds, which are specifically also requested by Ukraine.
So we will continue to provide military aid to Ukraine. And to your question, I met with Alexei Resnikoff, the defence minister of Ukraine, just yesterday to discuss additional aid that Canada will source and provide. And once I have the details of that, of course, I will share it with you.
WATCH | Anita Anand announces new military aid package:
One major thing that the Ukrainian government is asking for is air defence systems … and [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy told the G7 this week, as you know: "When Ukraine receives a sufficient quantity of modern and effective air defence systems, the key element of Russia's terror rocket strikes will cease to work." We don't have those systems to give. So what is Canada doing to respond?
I'd like to mention that one of the benefits of being with our NATO allies here in Brussels this week is that we are all putting on the table various forms of aid that we are each providing, and allies around the table are providing air defences. Ukraine shot down many of the missiles that targeted it earlier this week, in fact, with those defences.
Each country is leveraging its own expertise and providing aid on that basis. And that's why Canada has provided armoured vehicles, for example, because we produce those armoured vehicles right here at home. We are providing cameras for drones because we produce those cameras right here in Canada. And that is our modus operandi, continuing to draw down on the resources that we, as a country, have.
The Russian attacks are intensifying, as is the rhetoric, as you well know, minister. I'm wondering how concerned you are about being dragged into more direct involvement in this conflict?
I agree the Russian rhetoric is heightening, and that is concerning because I don't believe that nuclear threats or weaponizing energy are appropriate in terms of a very difficult situation for the Ukrainians already where war crimes are being committed against their population.
But in terms of Canada's commitment, one of our largest commitments has been in the area of training. We have trained over 33,000 Ukrainian soldiers since 2015. We are training Ukrainian new recruits in England. We are going to be training, in the coming weeks, Ukrainian soldiers on de-mining and explosives and reconnaissance in that area. So we are very much at the forefront of ensuring that Ukrainians have the skills and the expertise that they need to fight and win this unjust war.
But how worried are you, minister, that the Canadian soldiers are going to be dragged into more direct involvement in this conflict?
Putin started this war. He can end it by withdrawing. And we urge him to do so immediately.
The important point for NATO allies, and one that we heard time and again here at NATO this week, is that we stand as an alliance, shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in the short and the long term in support of its sovereignty and stability and security, as well as the international rules-based order that has kept us all safe since the end of the Second World War.
Just last week, U.S. President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin is, "not joking" when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons. How seriously are your NATO colleagues taking the risk of a nuclear attack?
The discussion about nuclear here centred on the point that Putin's rhetoric is dangerous and it's irresponsible. And the most recent escalation from Putin is totally unacceptable. And we have to continue to work as an alliance to pressure him to de-escalate in the strongest possible way.
That's not happening. As we've seen, the attacks are intensifying. Today is yet another example of what people in Ukraine are up against. How does your government see this war ending?
You know, Nil, I am focussed on continuing to provide Ukraine with the military aid and equipment that it needs to fight and win this war. That has to be my focus as the minister of national defence.
German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht has said: "We are living in threatening, dangerous times." U.S. President [Joe] Biden saying just in the last couple of weeks: "We've not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis." As Canadians hear and read those quotes, and you do as well, how worried do you think people in this country should be about what's coming next in this conflict?
The world is getting darker, and that is why we are spending more as a government to keep Canadians safe, including approximately $40 billion [over the next 20 years] on NORAD's modernization and continental defence.
In terms of the illegal war in Ukraine, Putin can end this war today by ordering his troops out of the territory of another sovereign country. And we will continue to ensure that we are standing up against this unjust war by supporting Ukraine in its time of need with the military aid and equipment that it needs as a country as well as an alliance.
Interview produced by Kevin Robertson. Q&A edited for length and clarity
