Trudeau should call Putin, Russian ambassador believes

(OTTAWA) While wondering why Justin Trudeau doesn’t call Vladimir Putin to discuss tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia’s ambassador to Ottawa, Oleg Stepanov, swears the Kremlin has “no intentions to invade its neighbour, and that the Russian soldiers massed on the border will leave as soon as their “manoeuvres” are finished.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

Sitting in a leather armchair in an embassy office, the diplomat bursts out laughing several times during the long interview granted to The Press, Thursday. When he is told about the risks of an armed conflict breaking out. When asked if Russia is behind the recent computer attack at Global Affairs Canada. When he says that President Putin “has nothing to gain” by invading Ukraine.

He does not seem to make much of the announcement made the day before by the Trudeau government – ​​extension of the Unifier training mission, deployment of 60 soldiers in the coming days, shipment of non-lethal equipment. “It does not help peace efforts, and it only emboldens Ukraine”, a country in the grip of a “civil war”, is content to say the one who arrived in the country last April.

And in his eyes, if Ottawa lines up so firmly in Kiev’s camp, it is because it blindly imitates Washington’s strategy. “That’s my impression, but it seems to me that the Government of Canada is just following the plan established by the United States, without bothering to make an independent assessment”, he says after swallowing an espresso .

The solution, Mr Stepanov insists, must be diplomatic. And between Canada and Russia, in this regard, the communication channels are dysfunctional. “The highest level is mine,” he notes – with the exception of an exchange, in December, between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Mélanie Joly, and her counterpart from Russia, Sergei Lavrov.

But Justin Trudeau does not converse with his.

It should, believes the head of the Moscow mission. “President Putin never refuses to answer the phone. Absolutely not,” he says. And if the Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, persona non grata in Russian territory, wished to cross the ocean and meet Russian representatives, “we would agree to lift this travel ban”, he underlines.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Canada maintained that the Kremlin was very aware of its position on this file when asked if it had informed the Russian government of the new measures in support of Kiev.

Russia “demonized”, says the ambassador

Repeatedly during the interview, Oleg Stepanov expressed his disappointment at seeing Russia “demonized” by the West. “There is never a presumption of innocence. It’s a bit medieval [comme façon de voir les choses] he laughs, adding that it is easy to “present Ukraine as a battlefield […] and that Russia, on the other side, is Mordor”.

This analogy with the universe of JRR Tolkien, the ambassador puts it forward when asked to comment on the remarks made Wednesday by Chrystia Freeland. The Ukrainian-born former foreign minister said the international order was threatened by the head-on clash between democracy and authoritarianism, and that “the dictators of the world are watching [l’Occident] to see how strong their bond is.

“I may not be politically correct, but I would say it is unprofessional of him to put labels on other countries. It’s just plain rude. […] We do not criticize the shortcomings of democracy in Canada”, reacts the one who studied international journalism in Moscow. And the country where he grew up – he was born in Cairo, Egypt, to Russian parents – is “a democracy”, he argues.

And Vladimir Putin’s popularity is “indisputable” – thus, those who attribute to him the intention of invading Ukraine to make it foam are in error, believes Mr. Stepanov. “It comes straight out of a Tom Clancy novel,” he laughs. That’s a very American way of looking at things […]. Let’s be clear: Russia will not invade Ukraine. There is no intention, no desire, no reason to do so. »