Toronto/CMEDIA: in a bid to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney reportedly has left Ottawa for Paris Monday morning to attend peace talks with Ukraine’s allies.
In an attempt to accelerate a negotiated peace plan for Ukraine nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, members of the “coalition of the willing,” including Canada, France and other European countries, are meeting.
Ukraine seeking security guarantees from the United States and other nations, Carney said his focus remains on fortifying Ukraine and deterring future Russian aggression, Carney said in a media statement issued Friday.
Working with allies to boost Ukraine’s defence capabilities and support the nation’s long-term recovery, Carney’s office says Canada seeks the return of Ukrainian children “unlawfully deported” during the war with Russia.
Being among the largest contributors per capita to Ukraine’s recovery, Canada announced $2.5 billion in financing and loan guarantees when Carney met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Halifax at the end of last month.
Having hosted Zelenskyy a day later at his Mar-a-Lago resort, the U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged that outstanding obstacles could prevent a deal between Ukraine and Russia, and added that although they were “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement.
The meeting in Paris comes days after the U.S. extracted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the country in a military operation that saw multiple explosions ring out as low-flying aircraft swept through the nation’s capital.
