(Ottawa) Contrary to what Justin Trudeau has said about recent incursions of unidentified flying objects in North American skies, the Minister of National Defense, Anita Anand, is not ready to talk about a ” tendency “.
The minister invoked her rational side when making the claim on Tuesday at the microphone of journalists waiting for her at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
“In terms of trend [patterns], I am personally reluctant to make a statement to that effect as we speak. It is still very early; we haven’t recovered the debris yet. We did not examine the wrecks,” she pleaded.
“And I’m a person who likes to deal with facts. I will therefore wait for the facts to be presented to me from the analysis of the debris before speaking of the trend, ”added the Minister of Defense, who is meeting in the Belgian capital with her NATO counterparts.
If the discussions come to this file, she will praise to the allies the effectiveness of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which happens to be the western flank of NATO, noted the minister. .
The day before, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had mentioned a trend, after four flying objects of various shapes were shot down in space in the North American sky, most recently over the Yukon.
“Clearly there is a tendency [pattern] “, he commented.
Major General Paul Prévost argued after him that the appearance of the first Chinese balloon had changed the game, and that flying machines had previously escaped detection. “We pay more attention to unidentified objects,” he explained in a technical briefing.
Meeting on Ukraine
Minister Anand is in Brussels to participate in meetings of the Ukraine Defense Advisory Group and NATO Defense Ministers.
She took the opportunity to announce that 25 Canadian Armed Forces instructors had been deployed to Poland to train Ukrainian troops in Leopard 2 tanks, and to confirm that the four tanks promised by Canada had arrived safely.
Asked to comment on the possibility of fighter jets being sent as reinforcements to counter the Russian offensive, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is now demanding, she contented herself with pleading that the subject “could be discussed”.
“Canada is there for Ukraine in the short and long term,” she concluded before turning on her heels.
Melanie Joly in Kyiv
His colleague Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, just made a surprise visit to Kyiv, where she spoke with President Zelensky.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UKRAINIAN PRESIDENCY, VIA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly
“I very much appreciate your company’s warm attitude towards Ukrainians, towards our people who have come to Canada. You help us not only on the battlefield, but also financially, in the energy sector,” the head of state told his guest, according to an official account.
President Zelensky took advantage of his meeting with the head of Canadian diplomacy to provide her with an update “of the priority needs of the defense forces of Ukraine”, we also note in this summary published on the site of the Ukrainian presidency.