National Defence committee  Well, it's both. I think you need to start off with Canada spearheading the dialogue, both at the United Nations and when it takes over the G7 presidency in January, to make this a key topic: how the G7 countries can come together and do something different. If we continue doing

National Defence committee  He's not elite.

National Defence committee  I was put on that list immediately after I visited Ukraine with Prime Minister Harper when he went to show support for Ukraine right after the Maidan revolution and the fleeing of President Yanukovych. At that point, Prime Minister Harper was advocating for Russia to be excluded

National Defence committee  As president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. We are a major stakeholder in supporting Ukraine in its struggle for democracy. That's the reason we were asked to be part of that. I've been on virtually every trip with prime ministers and ministers. I was just in Ukraine a year

National Defence committee  Absolutely non-partisan.

National Defence committee  First of all, I think we all believe in a people's and a nation's right to self-determination. That underlies why that whole premise of spheres of influence is fundamentally flawed. Putin's endgame is to restore something like the old Soviet Union. At the end of the day, it's s

National Defence committee  It's difficult to say. Number one, that region was the industrial heartland of Ukraine. Since the war broke out, that economy has been decimated, so to say that it is extracting high costs, absolutely. The question is, is Russian President Putin looking for an off-ramp? I'm not

National Defence committee  Number one, the sanctions are extracting financial penalties against Russia and those who are supportive of Putin's aggression around the world. I think there is a significant economic impact on Russia with these sanctions. That's why you're always hearing Vladimir Putin calling

National Defence committee  First of all, before you have a diplomatic solution, you need to have willing parties that are looking for a diplomatic solution. Right now, Vladimir Putin is not looking for a diplomatic solution in Ukraine. He has not reached out for one, and that's why we need to continue to,

National Defence committee  I'll start with the indigenous people, the Tatars. The Mejlis, which represents the Crimean Tatar people, has been outlawed in Crimea. The organization and the group that represents the indigenous peoples of Crimea have been outlawed. Their leaders have been either imprisoned or

National Defence committee  That's correct.

National Defence committee  In Russia, yes.

National Defence committee  If the Ukrainian people so desire, I believe they should be given that opportunity. I believe that we are no longer living in a world of big power politics and that we should always listen to the big powers. I think we now have a much more.... I think we share the same values t

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. First of all, we have to understand the value that the Baltic countries—Poland, Romania, and others—see in NATO membership. They see it as security because they are all afraid of Russia's increasing aggression. In terms of Ukraine's readiness, they'v

National Defence committee  There are 2,300 kilometres on the Russian-Ukrainian border that Ukraine does not control. It is extremely porous. The OSCE just issued a report yesterday which says the OSCE is only able to monitor two checkpoints, only a few hundred metres is what they're able to monitor of that