Posted at 4:44 p.m.
Updated at 7:34 p.m.
(Ottawa) Canada grants Siemens permission to circumvent sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime. She gave him the green light on Saturday to send turbines which were being repaired at the Dorval plant, and which Germany was claiming to ensure the operation of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
The exemption is likely to irritate Ukraine, which had been lobbying to convince Ottawa not to throw down ballast, and thus undermine unity among Western allies over the current sanctions regime against Moscow. Germany, for its part, preached the opposite; Canada was therefore caught between a rock and a hard place, forced to choose between two important allies and displease one of them. However, the balance ended up tipping in favor of Berlin.
“Canada will grant Siemens Canada a revocable, time-limited permit to allow the repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to return to Germany,” Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement.
Without a necessary supply of natural gas, the German economy will suffer very significant difficulties and the Germans themselves may not be able to heat their homes as winter approaches.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources
In passing, he accuses the Kremlin of taking Europe hostage as the winter months approach and of seeking to “exploit the instability they have created to justify further destabilization of European energy security”.
Despite the exemption granted, the Canadian government “will continue to work in coordination with [ses] allies and partners to impose severe costs on the Russian regime”, and will continue to impose sanctions on Moscow, assured Minister Wilkinson.
“Surrender to Russian blackmail”
The Congress of Ukrainian Canadians harshly criticized the waiver as a sign of “capitulation to Russian blackmail”, which will help “the coffers of the Russian state budget to continue to be filled with European money which will be used to finance the Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people”.
Moreover, “by acceding to Germany’s request, Canada will not only contravene its policy of isolating Russia, but will set a dangerous precedent that will lead to the weakening of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia” , protested the president of the group, Alexandra Chyczij, on Saturday.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Ottawa, Yulia Kovaliv, urged Ottawa on Friday to ensure “respect for the current sanctions regime”, referring to these turbines. Kyiv’s reaction to this privilege will be published on Sunday, the Ukrainian mission was told.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showed the door to his ambassador in Berlin on Saturday, along with those in a handful of countries, including India, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The reasons for these dismissals were not specified.
A revocable authorization “at any time”
The owner and operator of the 1,200 kilometer pipeline linking Russia and Germany, Gazprom, is on Canada’s list of companies targeted by economic sanctions. The company argued that in the absence of this equipment, a reduction in volume would be inevitable.
This version is disputed by the German authorities, who see it as a ploy deployed by Moscow to put pressure on Europe.
The license sent to Siemens Canada states that it is revocable “at any time”. It will expire as soon as the turbines arrive in Germany, said a government source on Saturday, who requested anonymity in order to speak more freely.
This same source would not say how many of these turbines were in Canada, only saying that there were “less than ten”.
The company did not respond to an email sent by The PressSaturday.
Announcement of new sanctions
As if to sweeten the pill, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly, announced on Saturday the Trudeau government’s intention to impose new economic sanctions “against key economic sectors” in Russia.
The precise nature of the sanctions has not been announced, but industrial manufacturing is particularly targeted.
The penalties will apply “to land and pipeline transportation as well as the manufacturing of metals and transportation, computer, electronic and electrical equipment, and machinery,” reads the statement released by his cabinet.
Once these measures are in force, Canadian companies will have 60 days to enter into contracts with the industries and services concerned, it also specifies.
Learn more
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- Number of sanctions that have been imposed on Russian individuals and entities by Canada since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014
Source: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA