Beyond the common front that has been able to support Ukraine and stand up to Russia for a year, Canada and the countries allied with Kiev are now working to ensure that Moscow remains isolated on the world stage. By warning China that there will be “consequences” if it ventures to supply Vladimir Putin. And by trying to convince the countries of the south of the globe to free themselves from Russia, explains in an interview the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly.
At the end of a tour that took her from Kiev to New York, to the United Nations headquarters, the Canadian minister assures us that “unity is strong” even today within the countries of NATO, the G7 and the European Union. Support for Ukraine is essential, insists Mélanie Joly, to defend “respect for international rules and freedom”. And Ukrainians are feeling that support on the ground, she said, after making a surprise visit there last week where she met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, members of his government and civil society.
However, Russia seems to be preparing to launch a new offensive against its neighboring country. Which could even benefit from help from China, which is preparing to supply arms to Moscow, according to the United States.
A situation that Canada is following “very closely”, warned Mélanie Joly in an interview with The duty this week, to take stock of this conflict of the last twelve months. “We sent a clear message to China that any form of support for Russia or circumvention of sanctions would not only be unacceptable but would generate consequences”, she underlined, without wanting to say more about these envisaged consequences. . “I am in a hypothetical context”, she justified.
Diplomacy and armament
This risk of a Russian offensive is, however, very real. The Western coalition therefore wishes to continue to arm Ukraine urgently. Canadian reserves, however, are beginning to be depleted and the Canadian government’s budget to be tight. “We have the means and we will take them,” nevertheless insists Minister Joly.
An Angus Reid poll revealed this week that Canadian support for this military support from Ukraine seems to be starting to crumble. Because 57% of respondents said they endorsed the sending of defensive weapons and military equipment and 37% the sending of “lethal aid” (a decline of nine and eleven points, respectively, compared to March 2022).
“We always work according to the support of the population, but also according to the national interest,” replied Minister Joly, suggesting that new announcements in this direction will not be long in coming.
“I am a progressive politician. I never thought that in my life I would say one day that to prevent a war, to achieve a peace process, a country had to be armed more. But this is exactly the case of Ukraine”, she said on the phone, on the sidelines of deliberations at the United Nations which led to the adoption of a resolution calling for “a comprehensive, just and sustainability in Ukraine”.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, could precisely reveal the sending of additional aid this Friday, day of the first anniversary of the conflict.
Expand and solidify the coalition
To this military struggle is added the diplomatic struggle. While in New York, Mélanie Joly took the opportunity to counterbalance “Russian propaganda” and rally countries in the southern hemisphere to defend the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of States at all costs.
A “narrative war” is taking place in Latin America, the Caribbean and African countries, deplores the minister. His Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov has just toured the African continent “to influence them in favor of Russia”.
Canada and its G7 partners must now reassure these states by providing “concrete solutions” to the challenges they face in terms of infrastructure, economic development and food security. And thus give them the means to stand up to Russia, explains Mélanie Joly.
This “propaganda” and this “massive disinformation” from Russia represent one of the main challenges of the conflict, in his eyes. “The objective is essentially to dehumanize the Ukrainians themselves, in order to be able to commit the most serious crimes against them afterwards. »
These war crimes, this sexual violence, these traumas caused a certain fatigue after twelve months in the field. But Minister Joly also noted, during her visit to kyiv, that these psychological scars also strengthened the Ukrainians’ determination to win this war. So that all this was not suffered in vain. “This justice will save many of their ills,” explains the minister.
“There is a deep sense of duty”, she draws up as observation of her third stay on Ukrainian soil since the beginning of this war. “What makes the determination [du peuple ukrainien] does not come from the fact that it is in their character to be determined. It’s more that in the end they know they are in a battle between good and evil. »