Ottawa, ON (WNews) – On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will ban imports of Russian oil and will send the third shipment of lethal weapons to Ukraine as its military fought off more-armoured Russian forces.
“Yesterday, we announced that we would be sending new shipments of military supplies, including body armour, helmets, gas masks and night vision goggles,” Trudeau said. “Today we are announcing that we will be supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons systems and upgraded ammunition.”
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, says the Canadian Armed Forces will provide airlift support to transport supplies and aid as well as take part in other NATO efforts to support Ukraine.
In a Facebook post late Monday afternoon, Trudeau will be asking the CRTC to begin the process of reviewing RT’s presence on Canadian airwaves. The main reason for the review is “because we cannot allow falsehoods, propaganda, and disinformation about Russia’s war to continue spreading in Canada”
In recent days, Ukrainian government representatives and members of its parliament have called on Canada and its allies to provide more weapons – including guns and anti-aircraft missiles – to prevent Russian forces from gaining control over key cities.
Anita Anand, Canada’s minister of defence, said the Canadian Armed Forces will provide 100 Carl-Gustaf anti-tank weapons systems and 2,000 rockets – ammunition for the shoulder-mounted weapons – from the Canadian arsenal.
“We are coordinating with our NATO allies to ensure the safe passage of this aid and it would be imprudent for me to provide further details at this time for the safety and security of Canadian Armed Forces and for the safe passage and the weapons and ammunition themselves,” she said.
No crude oil Imported from Russia since 2019
Canada will also ban the import of Russian oil, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Jonathan Wilkinson, the Minister of Natural Resources, said during question period in the House of Commons earlier this week that Canada has not received a shipment of Russian crude oil since the middle of 2019.
“Today, we are announcing our intention to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia, an industry that has benefited President Putin and his oligarchs greatly,” Trudeau said.
“This industry accounts for more than a third of Russia’s federal budget revenues, and while Canada has imported very little amounts in recent years, this measure sends a powerful message.
“In addition, it ensures that those who are complicit in President Putin’s atrocities cannot escape the consequences of their actions. This is why it was announced that Russian oligarchs will be prevented from using their wealth to buy citizenship abroad and avoid the consequences of sanctions.”
Immediately following her admonishment of Russia at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier on Monday, French Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly stated that she would travel to Warsaw on Tuesday to help “make sure ultimately that the delivery is well done.”.
“My role in this is to make sure this aid gets in the arms of Ukrainian soldiers that are fighting for their life and fighting for their motherland,” said Joly. “That’s exactly why I’ve been able to get an agreement from Poland to make sure that delivery could be done through their borders.”
Trudeau announced two weeks ago that he would be sending $7.8 million worth of weapons to Ukraine, including handguns, machine guns, carbines, and ammunition. Before that point, Canada had been sending shipments of non-lethal supplies, such as mine detectors, medical kits and vests, to Afghanistan.
Defence Minister Anand tweeted photos of the second delivery on Feb. 22. The images show a Royal Canadian Air Force plane on the tarmac in the dark, its cargo bay lined with black boxes wrapped in plastic. A Ukrainian flag is seen draped on one of the cases.
“This aid was requested by Ukraine, co-ordinated with NATO allies & is in addition to the $10m of lethal & non-lethal aid that we provided this month,” Anand tweeted last week.
As part of his non-lethal aid package for Ukraine, Joly announced another $25 million in non-lethal aid, including body armour, helmets, gas masks and night vision equipment. The government said it plans to work with Poland to deliver the gear through NATO.
Despite this, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko – who, like many Ukrainians, has said that she has armed herself to defend her country – told a Canadian media outlet on Friday that Ukraine is facing the largest army in Europe and that it cannot survive without more weapons from Canada and its allies.
“Even if we worked and worked for decades, our army would not match that of Russia’s in magnitude,” said Vasylenko. “So we need assistance to wake up Monday morning in an independent and free Ukraine.”
MP Yegor Cherniev, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, said that Ukraine is not just fighting for itself, but is also fighting for the free countries of the West.
“We need your technical and weapons support … anti-aircraft, anti-missile weapon,” said Cherniev. “This is one of our weak sides.
“If Ukraine will lose, the Western world will lose. We fight not only for Ukraine. We fight for democracy and the values of the Western world.”
As part of his speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Joly criticized Russia for lying about its plans to invade and demanded that it cease its attack immediately.
“Today, as millions of Ukrainians suffer the indignity of war, we too face our own responsibility — to speak up and to act, to demand, in the name of humanity, that Putin’s Russia ends this madness,” said Joly.