The provision of defensive weaponry would help the Ukrainians make the Russian incursion into Ukrainian lands costly, continuingly expensive, both in terms of materiel and manpower. I don't think the Russian Federation is prepared to go much further than they've already gone.
They would like to maintain a destabilized, frozen conflict, a Ukraine that's sort of teetering between stability and instability. As for the so-called separatists, I actually reject that description of them. Certainly, there may have been some people of that sort, but the vast majority of those who are involved in the conflict today are essentially criminal elements. I won't use the word “terrorists” because it's overused. These are individuals who have been mustered and brought together by the Russian Federation, very heavily equipped with weaponry that the Ukrainian professional army doesn't have, and stirred up into this conflict.
I think that if Ukrainian troops were provided with the defensive weaponry they need—this is what they tell me—they would be able to defeat those proxy armies in the field and make it very costly for them to continue operating. Perhaps that would then lead to a Russian withdrawal. I do not think the Ukrainian army today, with the resources that it has available, could drive the Russian military out. That would be a very uneven contest. However, holding their own, improving their position against their opponents, and causing the Russian Federation great cost are already happening.
The Ukrainian army today, as you may have seen—some of you have been there—is incredibly professional. I was able to see how effective they are, particularly their better units, with the Canadian educational and training programs that we're giving them, essentially on peaceful things such as demining. Kamianets-Podilskyi has a beautiful demining centre. This saves lives, everyone's life. Training soldiers to be better in first aid and medical things saves lives, and also making them professional soldiers able to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of their country.