Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced CAD541 million ($410 million) in new funding and projects to support Ukraine and strengthen transatlantic security at the NATO summit in Vilnius.
“The new funding for Ukraine builds on more than $8 billion in multifaceted assistance Canada has committed since the beginning of 2022, and builds on the Prime Minister’s announcement this week in Latvia to renew and expand Operation Reassurance, which is part of NATO’s defense and deterrence measures in Eastern Europe, and doubles Canada’s current presence in the country,” the Canadian head of government said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
According to the prime minister, that Canada intends to provide Ukraine with additional drones with cameras, and will also provide training to the Ukrainian military as part of Operation Unifier in Canada.
In addition, the Prime Minister announced an additional CAD48.8 million ($37 million) to the Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, on top of the CAD34.6 million announced in April 2023, which will support NATO’s practical non-lethal assistance to Ukraine through the donation of materials including fuel, bridge equipment, radios and first aid supplies.
“Canada, along with Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom, signed a statement to form a joint coalition to train the Ukrainian Air Force to operate and maintain F-16 fighter jets. By signing the statement, Canada commits to contribute to a multinational effort to train Ukrainian pilots, technicians and support personnel to operate and maintain F-16 fighter jets,” the statement reads.
Trudeau also announced an additional CAD2.7 million ($2.05) in cybersecurity assistance to Ukraine.
Canada has opened its market for Ukrainian products, particularly milk and dairy products, the press service of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection said.
“Thanks to the joint work of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a new market for the sale of Ukrainian products, namely milk and dairy products to Canada has been opened,” the statement said.
Explanation of the requirements of Canadian legislation on producers of dairy products and indicated in the zoo-sanitary certificate are published on the official web-portal of Gosprodpotrebbey.
The form of the certificate for export of milk and dairy products agreed by the competent authorities of both countries can be found on the official website of the State Consumer Service in the section “International Cooperation” in the section “Certificates for export and zoo products”.
To start the export of food products the market operator must apply to the territorial body of the Service at the location of the production facilities.
Canada will actively support Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO to join the Alliance as soon as additional circumstances allow, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
“Ukraine must have a choice about how to defend itself and protect its people. And that’s why Canada will support Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO in every way possible as part of the work of the North Atlantic Alliance to support Ukraine’s accession as soon as additional circumstances permit,” Trudeau said in his remarks during a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Saturday.
Canada will deliver nearly five thousand assault rifles and ammunition to Ukraine in the coming weeks, according to the Canadian Ministry of Defence.
“The delivery of the small arms and ammunition aid package announced in April is on schedule. Machine guns, assault rifles, cleaning kits and magazines have already been delivered to Ukraine, and one million rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition and 4,800 assault rifles should arrive in the coming weeks,” the report said.
According to the Canadian Ministry of Defence, all 21,000 small arms and 2.4 million rounds of ammunition planned for delivery are expected to be in Ukraine by summer.
“Canada’s support for Ukraine is unwavering. When I travel across Canada, I see Ukrainian flags on homes, small businesses and cars – because Canadians understand that Ukraine’s fight for self-defence is also a fight for sovereignty, freedom and independence,” said Canadian National Defence Minister Anita Anand, quoted by the ministry’s press office
Canada has provided Ukraine with demining machines totaling 22.5 million Canadian dollars, the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine reported.
“Ukraine’s State Emergency Service received the first demining equipment from Canada as part of a $22.5 million Canadian aid,” a Facebook post said.
The equipment will be used to clear agricultural land to return it to productive use and help restore food security.
Ukraine’s state budget on Friday received a CAD$2.4 billion (about $1.8 billion) loan from Canada on favorable terms under a second supplementary agreement, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said.
“Canada has once again demonstrated that it is a reliable partner of Ukraine: today we received CAD2.4 billion, which will be used primarily to finance priority state budget expenditures,” Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said in a statement.
The Ministry of Finance specified that the additional credit was granted for 10 years with the interest rate of 1.5% per annum. The funds are provided through the mechanism of the IMF administrative account.
As reported, the external needs in financing the state budget of Ukraine in 2023 amount to about $ 38 billion, and after the recent increase of expenditures by 537 billion UAH they are estimated already at $ 42.5 billion.
According to the Ministry of Finance, by March 29, financing from international partners had already reached $9.17 billion by the beginning of this year, compared to $32.14 billion for the whole of last year. That includes $3.5 billion in grants from the U.S. this year, $4.85 billion in loans from the EU and another $495 million in loans and guarantees from Britain.
Domestic funding from government bonds this year amounted to $3.43 billion.
