Fears of Russian invasion of Ukraine | Canada ready to quickly impose sanctions

(Ottawa) Canada will quickly impose tough economic sanctions against a list of Russian individuals and entities if Moscow decides to invade Ukraine, says Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.

Joel-Denis Bellavance
The Press

The list of targeted individuals and entities is ready. It was carefully prepared in concert with allied countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, to maximize the rebuke of the international community in the event of a Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory. The response will be immediate, assures M^me Pretty.

“Sanctions will come into effect from the first day of an attack. There will be other sanctions that will be imposed later to keep up the pressure, “certified Mr.^me Joly in an interview with The Press Tuesday.

While the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western countries judge that a Russian aggression is imminent, Canada continues to rely on diplomacy to avoid an armed conflict, offered Mr.^me Joly, who speaks almost daily with his counterpart from Ukraine, Dmitry Kuleba.

“Building Bridges”

The head of Canadian diplomacy must also meet on Wednesday with the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to take stock of the situation in Ukraine before flying to Munich, Germany, where she will take part. at a Security Conference on Thursday evening, which will bring together the majority of the world’s foreign ministers. She will then make a stop in Paris, where she will have another meeting with French Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

“A diplomatic solution is inevitable. A diplomatic solution will have to come at some point anyway. It is up to the Russians to determine when they want to surrender to this diplomatic solution,” said Mr.^me Pretty. During the interview, the Minister also received an email from her Ukrainian counterpart. “We are good allies of the Ukrainian government,” she said.

In the diplomatic ballet that has been accelerating for several months to deter Russia, Canada is working to “build bridges” between European countries and the member countries of the Group of Five (Five Eyes), a strategic alliance focused on intelligence sharing and security made up of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Canada has already imposed sanctions on Russia since 2014 following the illegal annexation of Crimea.

“The threat is imminent”

The partial withdrawal on Tuesday of Russian forces deployed around Ukraine, announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense, is far from convincing Canada and its NATO allies that Russian President Vladimir Putin has shelved his intentions warriors, argued M^me Pretty. Especially since Russia has more than 130,000 soldiers massed around its neighbor and is still planning major military maneuvers in Belarus, a resolutely pro-Russian neighboring country of Ukraine, until February 20.

“Russia must concretely demonstrate that it wants de-escalation. Based on the intelligence we have, the threat is real and imminent. There was no real troop withdrawal. Russia has said it intends to withdraw troops. But actions speak louder than words. I tell them: do it and we will start to believe you”, hammered M^me Pretty.

Caution is strongly advised, she said, as Moscow frequently engages in disinformation campaigns. “The ball is in Russia’s court. She pointed out that the government of Ukraine and some major banks were the target of a cyberattack on Tuesday. “This is part of the scenarios that we were anticipating from Russia to gradually isolate the Ukrainian government from its population. This is aimed at disrupting the communications infrastructure of the Ukrainian government. »

“Under the circumstances, Russia must demonstrate that it will stop massing troops along the border. In addition to having massed more than 130,000 troops, we see that the preparation of the troops has reached a very high level. And this is still very disturbing. »

For months, the Russian president has maintained that he does not want a war, but he repeats that an expansion of NATO that would allow Ukraine to join this military alliance posed a threat to Russia. Hence his crusade to obtain the guarantee that Ukraine will never be part of NATO. “We cannot give such a right of veto to the Kremlin. At the same time, there is a very serious proposal which has been submitted by the Americans and by NATO. But Russia has still not responded to this important offer. »