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

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

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 ou

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

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

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 b

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 mili

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

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 h

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

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

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-wes

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