Foreign Affairs Committee on April 25th, 2023

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Your Excellency, thank you for returning to our committee. It is always a pleasure to gain your perspective and to of course thank you as well for all of the work you are doing here in Canada and in Ukraine.

I have only a short amount of time. I would like to pick up on some of your opening comments with respect to sanctions.

You mentioned that the impact of sanctions has been significant. I believe the figure you cited was that $58 billion has been blocked from Russia. One particular area that has gained some attention is around sanctions on fertilizer. As you know, Canada imposed a 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer at the very beginning of the Russian invasion.

Unfortunately, the Conservative Party put forward a motion in the House of Commons to remove those sanctions on fertilizer. Our government has preferred to stand up to Russia, to keep those sanctions in place and to support farmers by investing in them to help diversify away from Russian sanctions.

I'd like to hear your view about the importance of those sanctions on Russian fertilizer, but also on what you're hearing from other allies—including perhaps in the global south—about the possibility of other countries imposing similar sanctions.

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

Sanctions are really important. It's also important that they be timely and that they be continued. If we look back to last year and even the year before the war, Russia benefited from the high energy prices and was able in both 2021 and 2022 to have record revenues in oil and gas exports. The decision to impose the price cap was implemented in December. Since then we've seen a significant decrease in Russian export revenues, and it continues. We also see a significant lack of technology and lack of access to technology. Sometimes Russians, through third parties, import washing machines in order to get the small chip to be able to produce weapons.

So it is important to work on the sanctions circumventions and to deprive Russia. Otherwise, on one hand we are imposing sanctions, but if we are not closing these loopholes whereby Russia is circumventing them, we ourselves are decreasing the impact of the sanctions.

Actually, a big part of fertilizers is the same gas. For many of the fertilizers, 70% of their cost is in natural gas. Without the sanctions, it's the same energy but with a different name. We need to be consistent in approaching the sanctions.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Your Excellency.

With the short amount of time I have left, I'd like to give you an opportunity to advise our committee as to what additional defence materials Ukraine may need. Of course, our Leopards have arrived and you articulated very well the extent of Canadian support in providing artillery and other defence equipment to Ukraine.

Perhaps I could also mention that it's very important to the Jewish community that I represent in Outremont that over the course of Passover everybody in our community enjoyed Ukrainian matzo. You mentioned that Ukraine continues to produce grain, and that is something that the Jewish community here in Canada feels is incredibly important to support and has celebrated. I wanted to let you know that.

Perhaps I could turn it over to you on the defence question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Could you respond very briefly, please?

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

Armoured vehicles, artillery, artillery shells, air defence and continued training are the crucial needs, but there is one more need. We are all approaching the Vilnius NATO summit, and we will count on Canada's support for Ukraine on our way to NATO. Ukraine believes not only that it's important for Ukraine to be a NATO member but also that Ukraine's membership in NATO will increase significantly the security and capability of the allies.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We now go to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

You have the floor for two minutes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Ambassador, you stated that sanctions were not effective enough and that there should be more of them. Can you elaborate on that? I only have two minutes, unfortunately.

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

There is another sector that is still not under sanctions, which is the Russian nuclear sector. Russia is not only using nuclear threats but also putting at risk the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhya. It's permanently at risk from shelling attacks, with horrific consequences.

Also, Russia is trying to use its nuclear sector to circumvent the sanctions. This is another big thing that we need to work on together. Ukraine has already imposed sanctions, and Ukraine has run out of Russian nuclear fuel, so we have moved on now to a Canadian company that is owned by Canadian funds; the Canadian company Westinghouse is supplying all the nuclear fuel to Ukraine.

It is also important to mention two things—working with sanctions circumventions and specifically those on technology, microchips and everything that can be used as a part of producing weapons.

The third thing is working with frozen assets, because these are the assets that will serve to build Ukraine. We are very grateful for the support of legislation that provides the opportunity to seize these assets. We will be grateful to see the first cases.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Quickly, are there any countries that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

I'm afraid you're out of time, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe. I'm sorry.

We will next go to Ms. McPherson. You have two minutes.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

For those of us in the smaller parties, it's always a bit of a challenge as we try to squeeze a few more seconds out.

Ambassador, I just wanted to let you know that this committee is undertaking a study on the sanctions regime. Therefore, we will be looking at that, and we may even ask for your expertise at that time. From your perspective, I can see that there is some work to be done around the sanctions. I certainly am a little concerned about the enforcement of our sanctions regime and some of the transparency.

I'd love an update from you on a couple of things, though. First of all, we have heard a lot about the children being stolen by Russia from Ukraine and taken to Russia. We've also heard a lot about sexual violence and rape being used as weapons of war in this conflict.

Could you very quickly touch on any update you have on both of those topics?

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

I think now it's all too obvious that the forceful deportation of Ukrainian children is not the only thing we have been talking about. Now we have the global arrest warrant for Putin and the so-called Russian ombudsman for children for illegal deportation and illegal abduction of Ukrainian children. Unfortunately, over 19,000 Ukrainian children were forcefully deported.

The horror is that many of them have parents in Ukraine or grandparents from Ukraine. There was a horrific story just three weeks ago. A grandmother went to Russia to take her child back, and she died there. These are the stories that are happening.

These children are brought throughout all of the country. Unfortunately, we're trying to get as much information and track as much as possible to know where our children are and to bring them back. However, we've managed to bring only 328 of them back. This is the horror of many mothers, fathers and relatives. It's not only orphans; every child matters for us.

This is the war crime that the ICC is investigating. The support for ICC in this is important. It is important to work with us to find ways that we can bring these children back.

On sexual violence, there are also many criminal cases we are investigating. Also, one thing that we will need support on, especially having this big capability in Canada, is with mental health. A lot of people, including those who have gone through sexual crimes, need to have proper treatment. We, as Ukraine, are seeking to get the best knowledge, experience and protocols on how we can help people and the women who have gone through sexual crimes—there are also many others who have gone through the horror of the war—to get better through mental health care.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

For the last round, we will go to Mr. Genuis. You have three minutes.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

My colleague across the way decidedly misstated the Conservative position on sanctions. We have been consistent in pushing for tougher sanctions. I have limited time, so I won't say more than that.

Your Excellency, I wanted to ask you two questions about the church in Ukraine. First of all, the Orthodox Christian community celebrated Easter last Sunday. Precisely at that time, Russian invaders destroyed a number of churches in the Zaporizhzhya region. Are the Russian invaders intentionally targeting churches or other religious infrastructure? Are there instances beyond the ones I've mentioned, where you see this happening?

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

Yes, Russia is targeting churches, historical and cultural places, and libraries. We have over 300 religious, historical and cultural places that have been either significantly targeted or destroyed.

It was on Easter. It was when people were going to churches. We have a tradition in Ukraine to bring bread and Easter eggs. Russia was still launching missile attacks on those civilian objects. There were no soldiers in the church. The people went there to pray, with the hope for victory and for their sons and daughters who are on the front line.

When it comes to the occupied regions, they are even looting and burning Ukrainian books from the Ukrainian libraries. They published new books on history in Russia that are just on the history of Kievan Rus. They're totally erasing Kyiv as the centre of Kievan Rus.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you.

I want to get one more question in, also on the church issue. I know there is legitimate recognition of the negative role of the Moscow patriarchate and its support for the war. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, under the ecclesial jurisdiction of the Moscow patriarchate, has sought to distinguish itself.

I know this is a complex and sensitive issue. I wonder if you could share any comments on the relationship between the Ukrainian government and this particular church, and on how to strike the balance between preserving religious freedom and addressing instances of churches' being used and misused for hostile military purposes.

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

I think it's quite obvious. Ukraine, as a country, respects all religions. We have different religions inside the country. Yes, Christianity is the majority religion, but Ukraine has never had any issues with respect for any other religious beliefs of our citizens and people who live in Ukraine.

Also, in wartime, it's not a matter of the church and religion but a matter of the individuals who could be—and are—investigated concerning their activities against Ukraine, its sovereignty and its territorial integrity. That's it.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you for that response.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

For the last question, we will go to Mr. Sarai.

You have three minutes.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you, Ambassador. Thanks for coming again and letting us know how the situation is there.

Can you enlighten us on the strength of the European Union members and their commitment, as well as that of others that surround Ukraine? Is it still as strong as it has been and as we've seen? Are there any places where it is wavering? The reason I ask is so that we could perhaps help apply pressure to those states that might be wavering or not giving as much support as you would hope.

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

The Russian invasion did exactly the opposite of what Russia was trying to achieve. Europe is more united. Ukraine now officially has the status of a candidate for EU membership, doing its homework in a speedy way, I would say, to meet the standards and requirements to be an EU member, the same as we will do for NATO. It brings the dialogue between the EU and Ukraine to a totally different level.

For example, in February we had the EU-Ukraine summit. It was in Kyiv, and most of the commissioners were coming to Ukraine and seeing on the ground..., understanding both the need for Ukraine to defend itself—because we are all defending Europe, the security of Europe—and a lot of things that are happening in our integration, whether it's the digital infrastructure, whether it's logistics, whether it's industry, whether it's standards. Our path is now officially that of a candidate for EU membership. We're more closely co-operating with both the EU countries and the European Union itself on our path to the EU. That brings a lot of collaboration, a lot of joint groups on proceeding quickly on this integration.

I would also like to say that Ukraine also has the EU as a part of its bigger foreign agenda, because Ukraine is not stopping doing its homework during the war. Historically, for the first time, a country that is in an active fight for itself—Ukraine—has a four-year program with the International Monetary Fund, which on one side provides funding to Ukraine and on the other side is a path to structural reform. The government is committed and is doing this.

That has brought unity. Of course, there are some issues that can happen from time to time that the countries of the European Union and Ukraine are discussing. However, we have a totally different feeling in terms of co-operation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you very much. That concludes questioning.

At this point, Madam Ambassador, allow me to thank you once again. I think it would be fair to say that we have had the great honour of benefiting from your insights and your perspective and expertise, more than those of any other ambassador in the city of Ottawa.

Thank you for always making yourself available.

[Yuliya Kovaliv]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Also, as it is an honour, we were wondering if we could take a picture with you. Thank you.

Do you have something to say, Rachel?