Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not sure why the government hasn't responded to those calls. We've seen several countries in Europe expel numerous Russian diplomats. We've not seen Canada expel any Russian diplomats since February. Added to that, there was a fairly disturbing incident about a month ago, which was reported publicly.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't have opening remarks. We're more than ready and we welcome any questions from the members of the committee.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I don't think there's a Ukrainian language school left open in Crimea. If there is, it would be one or two. Basically, in the occupied territories in the east, there is also a policy of essentially forceful implementation of the Russian language. That area on the Ukrainian side is also a predominantly Russian-speaking area, but that's not to say that people don't speak Ukrainian there.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Civilians on the Ukrainian side of the line never know when an artillery shell is going to be fired. The Russians and Russian proxy side place heavy weapons in cities. They put an artillery piece in a city. Ukraine is not going to fire into civilian areas, but the Russian side does.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The biggest player in the room is the Americans. The second-biggest is the European Union. Everyone saw the significant effects of the sanctions that came into force in April, and those were only American, right? Europe did not match those either. The European Union acting by itself can also move things, but Europe is 28 countries, which makes it a lot harder to gain consensus there than with the Americans.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say that is absolutely true. I would also add that the bridge was constructed with the side benefit to Russia of interfering in Ukrainian commerce. The height of the bridge is something like 30 metres, which stops Ukrainian freight from reaching Mariupol, which is a big port.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The effect of the existing sanctions from Canada, the United States, and the European Union, which were coordinated when this war started, has been to stop the Russian aggression from being worse than it is now. That's in the sense that these are things Russia has done, and we've put on sanctions to signal to Russia that the world is paying attention, finds this unacceptable, and will take measures to counter it.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There have been diplomatic talks for four years, and they haven't gotten anywhere. The OSCE has what's called the trilateral contact group, which includes Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE. There is also what are called the Normandy talks, which is Germany, France, Ukraine, and Russia.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There has been an increase in attacks, both on Ukrainian military positions on the front line and on civilian areas, with increased artillery and mortar shelling since about March 2018. The last two or three months have been a lot worse than, say, the previous six months. The cause of that is the subject of speculation, I think, in terms of what the Russian occupation force there is trying to gain by ratcheting up the pressure.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Well, I think the Kerch bridge, along with a bunch of other actions the Russians have taken, is an attempt to make the occupation permanent. The Kerch bridge gives you a link for the delivery of whatever—freight and goods and that kind of thing. Like other actions, this is one of the things they're doing to try to solidify this occupation.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. A similar situation with respect to human rights exists in the Russian-occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Adding to the urgency and severity is the fact that Russia continues to wage a hot war that puts civilians directly at risk. Shelling of civilian targets by Russian and proxy forces is commonplace.

Foreign Affairs committee  The explosion at Balakliya was around 3 a.m. Kiev time last night, or rather this morning. Yes, it is being investigated by the military prosecutor as an act of sabotage. There are some reports that right before the explosion people had heard an unmanned drone flying over the area.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm sorry, whose...?

Foreign Affairs committee  A lot of what we're hearing is about ties between the Russians and people who worked for the Trump campaign, people in the administration. Paradoxically that lessens the ability of the administration to manoeuvre in the area. Any overture to Russia is seen within the context of all of these things that are going on.