The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Mélanie Joly, personally told her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, of Canada’s “concern” to see her country massing troops on the border with Ukraine and invited him to to “prudence” so that the situation does not degenerate into armed conflict.
The chance meeting took place Thursday, in Stockholm, Sweden, in a hallway on the sidelines of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in which 57 states participated, including Canada and Russia.
“I had the opportunity to meet in the corridor, like that, my Russian counterpart, [Sergueï] Lavrov, and I mentioned my concern to him. I called on him to make sure he was careful. […] I mentioned it in all my speeches, but I had the chance to tell him directly, ”Minister Joly reported in an appeal to To have to on leaving the summit.
The head of Russian diplomacy reportedly replied that Canada has no lessons to teach it, since the country is helping Ukraine militarily.
“It’s always the same response from Russia, which tries to instrumentalize Canada’s presence in Ukraine or NATO [Organisation du traité de l’Atlantique Nord] in the Baltic States ”, explained Mme Joly.
This week, the minister was making her very first trip across the Atlantic since her major promotion this fall as head of Canadian diplomacy. She took part in the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Latvia, where the issue of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine monopolized the discussions. Mélanie Joly delivered a plea to “counter authoritarian regimes”, she said.
“It is very worrying what is happening on the border between Russia and Ukraine. […] The important thing is that we are able to talk to each other, and that we are able to calm things down. But we cannot take this threat lightly. We must be organized, we must plan, then we must really be able to have a strategic plan that can be implemented if ever there is a problem. “
The Canadian Army in place
Ukraine is not part of the collective defense pact that is NATO, which includes, in addition to Canada, the United States and 28 European countries. This country is nonetheless an ally of Canada, which sent 200 military advisers there to help train Ukrainian soldiers. Ottawa is in favor of a possible NATO enlargement to include Ukraine, a project which Russia categorically opposes.
In order to “protect the borders of Eastern Europe”, Canada also assumes command of an Atlantic Alliance force. 540 Canadian soldiers are currently deployed in Latvia as part of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group.
“The threats are real at the level of the eastern borders of Europe. And, although Ukraine is not part of NATO, the fact that [sa] security is at stake, it is also a threat against the Alliance in general, specified the Minister. The security of our troops is my priority, but at the same time, for the moment, the most important thing is that we can continue to demonstrate to Russia that there are going to be consequences. [en cas de conflit armé], and that these consequences will be severe. From an economic point of view and of course from a geopolitical point of view. “
On Thursday, his office announced new sanctions against officials in another country in the region, Belarus. Canada accuses him of his “unacceptable instrumentalisation of human beings, of migrants, to put pressure on the borders of eastern Europe,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who qualifies the gesture “odious” and ” completely contemptible. “
Increased presence of Canada
The Trudeau government’s latest Speech from the Throne specifies that the country “must strengthen international peace and security, the rule of law, democracy and respect for human rights”, in particular. Minister MélanieJoly interprets it as a command to increase Canada’s diplomatic presence in the world.
“Our objective is really in the spirit to say: we must counter authoritarian regimes. We must absolutely ensure that democracies have the means to respond to the attempts [de ces régimes] to increase their power. We will be on the side of democracies, like those of Ukraine, to be able to defend them and help them develop their democratic institutions and at the same time be able to defend themselves. “
Without being a great power, Canada at least has the listening ear of most countries in the world, she argues, given its track record as an advocate of multilateralism.
“Our job is to demonstrate that at the XXIe century, democracies are relevant and capable of managing global issues, such as climate change, economic conditions, issues related to communications, the Internet. […] We can play the role of bringing them all to the table and talking to everyone. Me, it’s my job as Minister of Foreign Affairs. “