The Russian ambassador in Ottawa, Oleg Stepanov, regrets that relations between his country and Canada are at their lowest. Rather than see it as a consequence of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, which has been going on for a year now, the diplomat puts it on the back of Justin Trudeau’s government, which he accuses of letting itself be influenced by “ideology and the Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada.
Although relations between Moscow and Ottawa have been strained for many years, this relationship is now “on ice”. Or downright “frozen,” said Ambassador Stepanov, in a recent interview with The duty to discuss the Russian invasion launched a year ago.
According to the man from Moscow to Ottawa, it is Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet that is “to blame”, because it governs “more in an ideological way, in solidarity with the United States and NATO”, rather than taking into account the Canada-Russia bilateral relationship.
Mr. Stepanov also accuses the Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland – who is of Ukrainian origin, who is a fierce opponent of the regime of Vladimir Putin and who was among the first Canadian leaders banned from entering Russia -, of be the one who influences the Trudeau government in this direction. “She has very strong positions on Russia, and that could be a factor,” says the ambassador.
Canada has provided $5.2 billion in aid to Ukraine over the past year. The country hosts the second largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world (1.36 million people), behind Russia. Don’t these historical and demographic ties also explain the Canadian government’s support for the Ukrainians who are trying to push Russia out of their territory? “Making Canada’s foreign policy hostage to a single diaspora is short-sighted,” retorts Ambassador Stepanov.
Moscow hoped for a warming of relations when Justin Trudeau’s Liberals took over from Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, who launched a heavy-handed response to Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea. That relationship remained rocky, however, and the he February 2022 invasion has further deteriorated it.
Denial all the way
Ambassador Stepanov persists in saying, like Moscow, that the aid of NATO countries and the European Union to Ukraine only prolongs the conflict.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly, rejects this “massive propaganda” from Russia, which reaches “a level not seen since the Second World War”. “It’s not complicated: if the Russians want to end the war, they just have to get out of Ukraine,” said the minister in an interview with The duty in turn. “They are the ones who started the war. And those who have decided to invade their neighbors. »
Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Yuliya Kovaliv, makes the same statement. “The reality is that it is Russia that is responsible for the escalation [du conflit] between his invasion and his occupation of Crimea [en 2014] then on February 24,” she said recently in an interview.
Ambassador Stepanov denies any wrongdoing by Russia. The 70,000 war crimes recorded so far would never have existed, despite the conviction of around 20 Russian soldiers to date. Russia only wants to “protect” what it claims to be its territory. “We are not trying to recreate the Russian Empire, as we are charged with,” he said.
Holding Canada’s foreign policy hostage to a single diaspora is short-sighted
Like the speech delivered by its president this week, which indicated that the West was seeking to “finish [la Russie] once and for all”, the ambassador brandishes the risk of an escalation of the conflict caused by NATO. And he persists in saying that Russia will do “everything in [son] power” to prevent Ukraine from joining the Atlantic Alliance. When the time comes for a peace negotiation, Moscow intends to demand that Ukraine be “a neutral and demilitarized state”.
However, the Western coalition remains united in its unfailing support for Ukraine, stated Minister Joly in an interview, and it is determined to continue to support the country militarily on the ground so that, when the day comes, the Ukrainians arrive at this negotiation “from a position of strength”.
Vladimir Putin is “entirely responsible for this war” and his speech on Tuesday “proves that he remains disconnected from this reality”, mocked Mélanie Joly in a speech before the UN this week.