Zelenskyy meets Carney to seek more military aid for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Canada yesterday for talks with Prime Minister Mark Carney, his latest international trip aimed at locking in future support for the fight against Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine is under pressure from Russia’s air war, which is using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce defences. Moscow’s attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the upcoming winter as part of its campaign to demoralise civilians, Ukrainian officials say.

“The main focus will be on supporting Ukraine in protecting our skies and preparing for the winter,” Zelenskyy said of his Canada trip in a social media post. “We will discuss how to strengthen our resilience, support our people and ensure that Ukraine has the capabilities it needs to defend itself.”

Canada and European countries are sending their own weaponry to Ukraine and are also buying American weapons for Kyiv under the so-called Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL. The United States under President Donald Trump has stopped donating weapons to Ukraine.

At a press conference following the talks, Carney announced a U$254 million package of critical air-defence interceptors for Ukraine through a US mechanism, and said Canada would provide more than US$312 million in loan guarantees to help Ukraine buy natural gas ahead of winter. He also said one-third of the drones Canada manufactures under a major expansion of its domestic drone industry will go to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy had previewed the air-defence announcement earlier Thursday, calling it “a decision for our lives”.

Carney also said Canada and Ukraine would deepen cooperation on drones, counter-drone systems and munitions, and signed what he called a “Hundred Year Partnership” covering defence, trade, reconstruction, energy, critical minerals and technology.

Carney said Canada would continue backing Ukraine after the fighting ends. “Ukrainians helped build Canada, and Canadians will help rebuild Ukraine,” he said, adding that any future peace must be backed by deterrence rather than trust in Moscow.

Carney said Canada plans to build the capacity to produce millions of drones within two years, with one-third of those manufactured going to support Ukraine’s defence.

During a photo opportunity before the talks, Zelenskyy said negotiations with Russia would eventually come but Ukraine needed to enter them from a position of strength. “We need to be strong, not to be weak,” he said, adding that Ukraine needed a “strong and lasting peace”.

Recent US efforts to stop the more than four years of fighting have delivered no significant breakthrough, although Washington-brokered talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv are expected to continue.

Zelenskyy’s arrival on Wednesday night in Calgary, Alberta came the day after his flight from Moldova to Norway was delayed when authorities closed Moldova’s airspace because of a drone incursion.

The aerial drone battle between Russia and Ukraine has grown in scale since Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022. Ukraine’s neighbours Romania and Moldova, and other European countries, have reported repeated drone incursions.