Prime Minister Mark Carney landed in Warsaw on Saturday for a trip that was announced as being to Warsaw, Berlin, and Riga, when early Sunday morning, he turned up in Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day, along with defence minister David McGuinty. (Photos here). There is a bit of symbolism here because Canada was the first western nation to recognize Ukraine’s independence after it broke away from the Soviet Union. Carney laid a wreath at Ukraine’s national memorial alongside president Zelenskyy and his wife, and also had meetings that included Ukraine’s new prime minister.
Carney announced a new $2 billion aid package for Ukraine—new tranches of supplies of military aid, medical equipment, arms; purchases of items prioritised by NATO including US-made equipment, munitions, and air defence capabilities; drone-counter-drone and electronic warfare equipment; armoured vehicles, as well as more ammunition procured through the Czech process. Carney also said that he was not ruling out Canadian troops being part of any security guarantees if a ceasefire is achieved (not that it’s likely to happen).
Here is a broader look at Canada’s contributions to Ukraine. AP has some photos from Ukraine’s independence in 1991, as well as photos from around Europe to mark this Independence Day.
Ukraine Dispatch
Russia captured two settlements in Donetsk on Friday, and another one in Dnipropetrovsk on Sunday. A Ukrainian drone struck the fuel terminal of Russian nuclear power plant, as we also learned that the US has been restricting the use of long-range missiles against Russia. There was a prisoner exchange on Sunday of 146 prisoners of war on both sides.