Canada may send troops to Ukraine
Meanwhile, Moscow wonders whether Ottawa has enough forces to protect its own borders.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the country is considering all possible options and has not ruled out the possibility of deploying troops, after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a new “coalition of the willing” to ensure Kiev’s position in the event of a peace deal with Moscow.
Starmer chaired an emergency meeting in London on March 2, where he acknowledged that, while some countries were contributing next to nothing, those willing to contribute needed to act quickly. Asked whether Canada would consider deploying troops, Trudeau said all scenarios were on the table.
“Canada has been looking at ways we can best assist, and as I said a few days ago, all options are on the table,” Trudeau said, stressing that Canada “has been one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters from the beginning.”
To demonstrate Canada’s leadership in supporting Kiev, Prime Minister Trudeau highlighted a joint effort with the UK and Poland that has “provided military training to more than 44,000 Ukrainian soldiers” since 2015 – an average of about 4,400 soldiers per year. He also mentioned “nearly $20 billion” (US$13.8 billion) in “multifaceted assistance” to Ukraine. However, Germany’s Kiel Institute estimates Ottawa’s total contribution at only $8.6 billion, making Canada the fifth-largest donor, behind the US, Germany, the UK and Japan.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to Trudeau's statement, questioning whether Canada has enough troops to protect its own borders – a reference to US President Donald Trump's joke about annexing Canada as the 51st US state.
“So who will defend Canadian territory in case of US expansion north? Probably the Ukrainians who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the army,” Zakharova quipped.
Mr Starmer stressed on 2 March that “not every country feels able to contribute, but that does not mean we should sit idly by”, while also asserting that the UK “stands ready to support by deploying troops on the ground and aircraft in the air, alongside other countries”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said European troops would only be deployed when the situation on the ground was deemed safe enough for them. He proposed a “temporary ceasefire for a month in the air, at sea and in energy infrastructure” – an idea Moscow has previously denounced as a Western ploy to rearm and strengthen Kiev.
Moscow is firmly opposed to the deployment of foreign troops into Ukraine without UN authorization, warning that they would be considered legitimate targets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the idea of deploying foreign troops to Ukraine – mainly promoted by France and Britain – was aimed at “further inflaming the conflict and blocking any efforts to de-escalate the situation”.