Efforts to broker peace in Ukraine wins tentative Canadian support: ‘It has to be an acceptable deal’
A draft deal that might end Russia’s war on Ukraine won some tentative Canadian support on Friday.
“We have to talk to each other, and we’re supportive of productive dialogue that might lead to a negotiated outcome that might end the war,” Defence Minister David McGuinty told reporters at the Halifax International Security Forum.
There are a thousand Russians, and hundreds of Ukrainians dying every day in the conflict, McGuinty said.
“Canada is always looking to support progress,” he said.
If U.S. efforts lead “to a negotiated outcome that ends the war, we’re supportive,” McGuinty said, noting he’s not privy to the negotiations.
“But we remain hopeful, eternally hopeful, that we can bring this to an end. First a ceasefire and then an end to the war.”
Meanwhile, Europe is “preparing to defend against potential incursions or malfeasance from Russia,” McGuinty said.
He noted that as Canada boosts its military budget to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, “there’s a level of preparedness, of sophistication, of arming, which will be much more powerful than it has been in years gone by.”
The White House proposal to end the war reportedly includes the surrender of Ukrainian territory and places limits on the country’s military. Drafted without the involvement of Ukraine or Europe, it would prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO, cap the size of the nation’s military and bar the presence of NATO troops in the war-ravaged country.
“They are starting points for negotiation,” General Jennie Carignan, chief of Canada’s defence staff, said Friday in an interview.
“Who knows how that’s going to turn out?”
One thing is certain, Carignan said. “There will be a need for rebuilding the Ukrainian forces and their institutions and their capacity to defend themselves. That’s absolutely clear.”
She’s hoping the draft deal “is going to provide for some stability and mostly for the conflict to pause to allow for reconstruction and, frankly, the Ukranians absolutely need that,” Carignan said.
But it “has to be an acceptable deal, for sure,” she said.
“Of course we are following closely how the situation evolves.”
The Canadian Forces is “developing various military options for the government to consider and the situation has been constantly changing and evolving in Ukraine,” she said.
“We are working with the coalition of the willing, with my counterparts as well, to come up with various solutions — who would do what in what type of context,” Carignan said.
Whether Canada provides soldiers to keep the peace in Ukraine “is all dependent on what kind of ceasefire” might be achieved, she said.
“There’s a spectrum in stopping a conflict,” Carignan said, ranging from a “shaky ceasefire” on one end to a “full peace treaty, which is very stable,” on the other.
No matter the scenario in this case, Ukraine is going to need training for its military and help with “building their democratic institutions,” she said, “which means, as well, a strong defence. This would be the common thread regardless of what kind of ceasefire or peace scenario that can be anticipated for Ukraine.”
Canada’s military is looking at options around what kind of force they could dedicate to Ukraine, she said.
“Currently I already have significant contribution to Ukraine. We can go up to 600 members,” Carignan said, noting she can’t discuss their whereabouts for operational security reasons.
“What we want to do is have scalable options that dial up or down depending on the demand.”
Canada has been helping Ukraine’s military since 2014, Carignan said. “We’ve got a long history of collaboration already. So, I already have a significant commitment. And then there’s ways to rearrange current forces serving in Europe via the NATO stream. Although one thing is very clear — we’re not going to modify our posture in Latvia. This is a firm commitment.”
Latvia is currently home to this country’s largest overseas military deployment. About 2,400 Canadian Armed Forces personnel are participating in Operation Reassurance, which is focused on contributing to NATO’s deterrence and defence effort in Central and Eastern Europe. That includes leading a 14-nation multinational battle group in Latvia, contributing naval assets to NATO’s maritime groups, and providing air support and training.
On top of that, Carignan pointed to Operation Unifier, which has trained over 47,000 members of the Security Forces of Ukraine since 2015, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. That was modified in 2022 due to Russia’s full-scale invasion; it has since trained about 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers in various locations across Europe.
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