Mr. Chair, I had a very frank discussion with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov about two issues that have been very much in the news these days and for which Canada has imposed sanctions on Russia. These are its troop buildup around Ukraine, the fact that it illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and has been very active in the Donbass on the eastern frontier of Ukraine, as well as its human rights record, especially with respect to Alexei Navalny, whom it first attempted to poison and is currently detaining. We had a very blunt conversation about that.
Canada is a strong ally of Ukraine. We have put approximately $800 million into Ukraine since 2014. Operation Unifier is involved with training Ukrainian troops, and we have assured Ukraine of our steadfast support against the illegal annexation and aggressive behaviour against it.