National Defence committee  There might be several reasons for that. First, Russia had deployed major forces into the region. One year ago, the situation was different. Second, I think they could have some other reasons for this provocation: the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine, the G20 summit or some other things.

National Defence committee  Many of us believe that one day a refrigerator will win over a TV set. That's exactly what happened in the end of the Soviet era. The economic sanctions against Russia make a huge difference, and I would strongly encourage us to work together on more punishing sanctions. As was mentioned, I think we need to discuss very specific sectoral actions, and the avenue that was mentioned, meaning specific navigation of Russian commercial vessels, is something that we should look into.

National Defence committee  It's an impressive amount of work, and I'm happy to say that you—Canada—helped us to do this. As many of you know, there is a major Canadian investment in the defensive work in Ukraine. You help us through your advice and through your people on the ground who help us to change our military.

National Defence committee  In general, there are three major sources of corruption, and they are universal. The first is stealing directly from the budget. The second is public procurement, and the third is state-run enterprises. I think Ukraine has shown tremendous progress in the first two. We don't see direct stealing from the budget, as was the norm during the Yanukovych years.

National Defence committee  It was widely spread by international and Russian media.

National Defence committee  That's what I believe.

National Defence committee  First of all, I would like to thank the NDP for its continuous support towards Ukraine. With regard to the youth mobility agreement, I can report that, yes, we do have progress on that. We have received Canadian proposals on this major and very important agreement, and right now we are in the process of consideration.

National Defence committee  Absolutely. The very fact of the renewal of Operation Unifier will be a strong message of support towards Ukraine. I can also share with you that I think, this time, we are in very good communication with the Canadian government and with Canadian Armed Forces on how we can make better use of Operation Unifier.

National Defence committee  Yes, and as many of you are aware, there are very specific contracts that are being discussed right now, even as we speak. These include weapons and equipment. Also, I think there are many things that are in store for the future. I can give you one example. I hear from our military that there is a new huge concern and problem with Russians using their laser equipment to blind our soldiers.

National Defence committee  Not yet. We are extremely thankful to the Canadian Parliament for adopting the Magnitsky act, and we think that it is high time to put more pressure on Russia using the Magnitsky act. There are some absolutely demonstrated bizarre cases of violations of human rights, and I think there are plenty of reasons to make use of this law.

National Defence committee  First, as we have discussed, it really changes the situation in the Sea of Azov. Russia has enough deployments on the land, in the air and on the sea to completely control the whole Sea of Azov. This also allows them to quickly advance along the coastline of the Sea of Azov. We have been talking about this for quite a long time, that it was part of their plan to make sure they have a land bridge from Russia to Crimea.

National Defence committee  We need efforts both on the diplomatic front and militarily. We need more military presence to deter Russia from further escalation, and we need consolidated diplomatic pressure on Russia. We need to restore international law in the Kerch Strait. This is not just in the interest of Ukraine, but in the interest of all countries that have activities there.

National Defence committee  I would strongly agree that we should see the situation as very interconnected. When we talk about this interconnectivity, we are talking about a huge region, from Syria to the Arctic Ocean. In that sense, a Canadian presence in Latvia, Romania and, of course, Ukraine is a major and very right investment in the security of the continent and NATO security of the world.

National Defence committee  First, here is an observation on Russian society: I think we should not underestimate the atmosphere within Russian society, created by many years of propaganda. The same footage we just saw was used in Russia to actually boost support for the government, and was used as anti-western propaganda in the way it was presented to the Russian public.

National Defence committee  There is no good news with regard to the sailors. At this moment, they're in Moscow. They have been taken to the infamous Lefortovo prison. All the signs indicate that the Russian leadership wants to make this a demonstrative criminal case. We believe our sailors are prisoners of war, which means there should be a very different legal approach.