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  I would like you to take a look at this map. It actually shows the movement of the Ukrainian vessels. The blue line shows that, from your right to your left. Our three vessels were heading towards the Kerch Strait, as part of their normal routine procedure. The first time they we

National Defence committee  To make a long story short, they followed normal routine procedure. That's what they had been doing throughout many years. This time, things turned a very different way. From the legal point of view, our actions are based on the United Nations convention, and it's based on the

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  I can start. It's about this enormous interconnectivity of the world today. The same ships that were part of the Russian aggression into Georgia were part of the Russian annexation of Crimea and part of the Russian navy operations at the coast of Syria. Greater Russian milita

National Defence committee  We are more used to counting the Russian aggression not on that scale, but on the scale of human lives that we keep losing every day. There was another Ukrainian life lost today. It's hard to judge, but I think the dynamics are very clear. It has been escalating.

National Defence committee  I would not be surprised to see that, and 2019 is going to be a very important year, for both Ukraine and Canada, in terms of elections. In Ukraine we'll have two election cycles. Our presidential election is scheduled for March 31 and our parliamentary elections are scheduled fo

National Defence committee  By now we have hard data proving that there is a clear economic impact on Russia associated with the sanctions. Yes, it's true that sanctions themselves are a limited tool, but I think they are extremely effective when they're combined with other forms of diplomatic pressure, a

National Defence committee  There are some very practical steps that need to be taken. In terms of cybersecurity, it's extremely important to make sure that we can protect our equipment and our election infrastructure from interference. You know that Ukraine has been suffering a lot from very intense Russia

National Defence committee  The information war that Russia has been waging is not about Ukraine. They fight this war against you. They fight this war against the free world. Even here, on this wonderful Canadian soil, you have seen Russian information attacks based on specific individuals, based on groups

National Defence committee  Yes, legal actions will be taken. I do not know all the details and I cannot share all of the ones I do know, but it has been said by Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Klimkin that Ukraine is preparing legal actions against Russia on this specific case.

National Defence committee  Yes, I think we should look into this. We should understand that Russia has done a lot to limit or block other nations from normal commercial activities in the Black Sea region. I think we need to make sure that they will pay their price for this. Also, I think of all the Russian

National Defence committee  There are several specific sectors of the Russian economy that should be considered. I'll go back to the recommendations by the Atlantic Council, which were mentioned here. They specifically encouraged western powers to think of major Russian banks, which are crucial for the Russ

National Defence committee  When it comes to Canada, I think there are a couple of threats. First, Russia clearly wants to destabilize the international order. I think their signal with all of this action is very clear: We do not care what you think about this; we are going to do what we want to do. Yes, t