Mr. Chairman and members of Parliament, it's an honour to be here to address you and, through you, to thank the Canadian people for their unwavering support towards Ukraine.
It provides great support for my nation, and I thank you for it.
I would like to start with the footage that many of you have probably seen. This video was filmed on November 25 in the international Kerch Strait by a Russian naval officer who wanted to capture the moment when his ship would follow orders and ram the Ukrainian tugboat.
There is something in this video that strikes me every time I watch it. It's the voice of the Russian captain, who is so excited at this chance to hunt, chase and hit the Ukrainian vessel. He screams, “Press her! Hit her! Squeeze her!” Make no mistake; they knew what they were doing and they enjoyed this opportunity to do whatever they wanted without any threat of receiving an appropriate response.
Radio exchanges between the Russian officers show that there was a clear order to shoot, ram and capture the Ukrainian vessels. The picture at top right shows the damage to the control room of the Ukrainian vessel. They knew exactly where the people were, and that is exactly where they targeted.
Apparently, not everything went well for the Russians either. The picture at bottom right shows the Russian patrol boat, which was damaged in a collision with another Russian vessel.
It was a well-planned attack that was controlled directly by President Putin, as would later be recognized by his press secretary, Peskov. For the first time since the Russian aggression into Ukraine in 2015, we saw a case where the Russian military directly attacked the Ukrainian military. This time they did not hide behind green men, as they did in Crimea, or behind mercenaries, as they did in the eastern part of Ukraine.
This incident was a result of the Russian decision to block passage through the international Kerch Strait. As you know, the bridge was illegally built by Russia. A number of individuals and companies related to that were sanctioned by the U.S. and our other partners, and I hope Canada will follow suit.
If you look at the picture, you will see there's nothing really new in it, because this is exactly what the Russians did when they invaded Crimea and tried to blow up Ukrainian vessels in Donuzlav Lake in the spring of 2014. At that time, Russia stole Crimea from Ukraine and the world did not interfere. This time they want to steal the Sea of Azov.
As of today, Russia has dramatically escalated the situation in the region. It started in the spring. The circled zones that you see show the areas where the Russians started intercepting and inspecting commercial vessels. Now they are practically blocking the Kerch Strait from free passage. They have two goals in doing that.
First, they want to cut off the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk, which you can see in the upper part of the picture and which are key to the exports of steel and grain from the east of Ukraine.
Second, this is a perfect set for extending their military advance along the northern coast of the Azov sea, all the way to Crimea. The blue box at top right shows you the area that is already heavily used for Russian naval exercises. It's right next to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Russia has deployed major forces into the region, which allows it to effectively control the water and the air in the region, as well as most of the coastline of the Sea of Azov.
The bigger picture of the region tells us that by militarizing Crimea, Russia has greatly increased its presence throughout the Black Sea. As you can see, Russia has also stepped up its aviation reconnaissance activities across the Black Sea. As you know, Canada has deployments in Romania as part of the air patrol operations, so this picture tells you that it was the right decision by Canada to send your servicemen and servicewomen to exactly where they can make a difference. They are playing a very important role there in helping us to defend the eastern flank of NATO.
It's important to realize that the biggest threat from Russia is if it expands its influence into the Mediterranean and into the Balkans. Crimea, this red diamond in the middle, is very key to that strategy. If you look at the numbers, you can see that Russia has been turning Crimea into a huge military base. Our intelligence tells us we will see much more of that in the next several years.
It also tells us that Russia has already consolidated impressive nuclear capabilities in Crimea. This includes naval and air, and there are signs that Russia is restoring nuclear storage in Crimea. This can be a horrifying game-changer in the whole of eastern Europe and the Middle East.
In that sense the Russian presence in Moldova and Georgia is not just to put pressure on those independent nations leaning toward the west. They also need it for the military buildup across the region.
What do we ask you to do about this?
First, there are a couple of very practical things. We need your support to get our men back. We're talking about 24 sailors. The youngest is 19. They have been brought to Moscow and they have criminal charges against them. We know enough about the Russian judiciary to be very concerned about the trials. We believe they are prisoners of war. They went from a Ukrainian port to another Ukrainian port through an international strait. Many of them are alive only by a miracle and they deserve the right to be brought back home.
Second, we demand release of the three vessels currently held in Kerch.
Third, we need to restore free passage through the Kerch Strait. It's an international strait and international law should be applied.
At this moment I would like to specifically thank Canada for supporting these demands. This is exactly what was said in the statements of Minister Freeland and also in the statements by the Leader of the Opposition Andrew Scheer. Moreover, this was repeated in the joint statement of the G7 ministers. We praise Canadian leadership on this issue throughout the G7 community.
We also believe this is the time to upgrade NATO presence in the Black Sea region and to introduce more punishing sanctions on Russia.
We need to take a new level of co-operation between NATO and its allies in the region. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia feel and know that we can do much more together. We need this to deter Russia from further escalation. We also need more NATO presence in the region to ensure that the Black Sea will remain open to civil and commercial activities. This should complement our defence co-operation that already exists. Operation Unifier is a great example of practical co-operation between Ukraine and Canada.
I know that many of you have visited your troops in western Ukraine; so did I. It was an incredible feeling to see that genuine exchange of experience and the camaraderie that our men and women in uniform have built between them. By now, 10,500 Ukrainian soldiers have been through Canadian training, and only God knows how many lives have been saved thanks to this training. As we come to the date of renewal of Operation Unifier I encourage us to take the operation to a new level of scale and depth.
Following the Canadian decision to include Ukraine in the AFCCL we observed Canadian companies taking the benefit of the new market opportunities in Ukraine. As it has been made public that we are about to close the deal on sniper rifles, I think we should explore more areas of co-operation. Direct sales from Canadian companies to the Ukrainian government is obviously great, but I think we can go further. We would like Canada to see this as a necessary and worthy joint investment. This will help us to defend Europe and this will help Canadian companies to get its fair share of the market. We want Canada to follow the U.S. example and consider investment in the supply of weapons and equipment in Ukraine.
Finally, we want Canada to directly support our aspirations for NATO membership. As you know, the Ukrainian Parliament has just successfully adopted, in first reading, an amendment to the Constitution setting the goal of NATO membership for Ukraine. We are serious about profound defence reform. We know we are a de facto eastern friend of NATO, and we want membership.
Canada was the first western nation to recognize Ukrainian independence. There was also a time when you helped us to get into the WTO. I think this is the time when you would lead us on our way to NATO. We want you to show this type of thoughtful and visionary leadership again.
Thank you.