National Defence committee  Since February 21, Europe has made a significant step forward in energy diversification and getting rid of dependency on Russian oil and gas. Of course, diversification of the energy flow is important. Europe is increasing renewables shared with Ukraine. We also see its rebuilding and maintaining the mixture of energy sources and the development of clean energy.

National Defence committee  As we all remember, NATO, as an alliance, was created post Second World War to build security, first and foremost—collective security. Of course, Russia, as of today, is named specifically as one of the biggest threats to NATO. In my introductory remarks, I shared with you the figures on how much Russian equipment we have already destroyed, how much Russia has had losses in its manpower, but also how Russian military capabilities have been reduced, which helps to strengthen security for NATO countries.

National Defence committee  As of now, I can't say that this is top on the priority list. The medevacs are able to quickly deliver the injured to the first line of support and the second line of support. As far as I know, this is not on the top priority list.

National Defence committee  As I've already said, we definitely need both the armoured vehicles with the equipment installed and the vehicles for so-called medevac. Both of them are needed on the front line. In particular, I don't want to commend any particular company. However, I would say the only thing that is of parallel importance, including what weapons are installed, is the ability to supply the spare parts—sustainability for the maintenance.

National Defence committee  It's really important, because that is another example of how Russia is actually using a civil nuclear object as another part of their warfare. They control the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. There are missions. The IAEA, in their report, clearly stated that there are weapons installed in the territory of the nuclear power station.

National Defence committee  Indeed, the damage to the economy is huge. Last year the Ukrainian economy shrank 30%, and the World Bank estimated that the needed funds for recovery would exceed $400 billion. Each day, as Russia launches missiles and drones, there is damage to both the critical infrastructure and the housing.

National Defence committee  We believe that any allegations of cases about sanctions circumvention need to be investigated and that loopholes need to be closed. As to the specific reports, I have no additional information for the specific land mines or spare parts for the land mines case, but if that is true, definitely it is worth exploring and understanding how these spare parts were exported and whether it was done through the intermediaries.

National Defence committee  Thank you. Canada and 11 other countries are the members of, as we call it, the fighter jets coalition, which is the coordination group working together on helping us with our needs in terms of building our capability in the air. As you see, since February 24, 2022, Ukraine does not have superiority in the air.

National Defence committee  Indeed, the attention we are now paying to the development of the defence sector has several pillars. One is, of course, to have production in Ukraine, which means that there are more jobs, that it's less expensive and that we save time and logistical costs for maintenance. The second priority behind why we are putting so much attention toward the defence sector is to be able to maintain and repair more quickly all the equipment that Ukraine is getting and to save both time and effort by having it quickly repaired.

National Defence committee  Indeed, Russia is trying to use some intermediaries, meaning companies or neighbouring countries, to circumvent the sanctions. We have already seen several cases, and I would say more. Even today, the U.S. government imposed sanctions, including on the companies that were engaged in circumventing the sanctions.

National Defence committee  Indeed, we are very grateful for the support Canada has provided to us. As you know, just recently NATO said that Russia was one of the biggest threats to NATO as a security alliance, which also means that it is a threat for all NATO members. Today Ukrainians, young men and women who are fighting on the front lines, are brave enough to sacrifice their lives to protect not only our country and territory but also the eastern flank of NATO.

National Defence committee  Thank you. Indeed, the Russian war machine is conducting numerous disinformation campaigns. Just for example, I will tell you about one that we recently saw in Ukraine. There was special messaging, especially through social media, addressed to Ukrainian soldiers to just put away their arms and go on the Russian side.

National Defence committee  On the training of the fighter pilots, as you know, Ukraine, with our partners, launched the coalition of the fighter jets. It was the top priority of working with partners for the F-16 fighter jets. Of course, we need the training for the pilots. The pilots themselves, the engineering part, logistics and navigation were the top priority.

National Defence committee  I cannot now comment on whether they are operated by the IRGC. Yes, the Shahed drones themselves are supplied by Iran. Russia also, as we know, started to produce its own version of the Shahed drone, which is called Lancet. With regard to Russia's ability to produce drones, the specific intention, and what we are asking our partners, is to increase the sanction pressure and especially to close any loopholes into circumventions of the sanctions, because what we discovered is that these kinds of drones, both Shahed drones and Russian-produced drones, have many spare parts that are produced in western countries, in NATO countries, and it is important not to allow Russia to circumvent the sanctions and to get the spare parts.

National Defence committee  Indeed, the steady supply of the artillery shells, including the 155, is of crucial importance. For the first time this autumn there were days when Ukrainian usage of artillery shells was higher than the Russians', which was very unusual, because on the contrary, Ukraine, because of the heavy need for artillery shells, was using much less ammunition on the battlefield than the Russians were.