Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will continue to build up its military might in the coming years, in part so it’s able to play a role in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.
Carney is in Paris meeting with Ukraine’s allies to discuss the role Canada might play in securing an eventual ceasefire in the war with Russia.
At a press conference at the Canadian embassy, Carney said the negotiations on peace and security guarantees for Ukraine are “90 per cent of the way there.”
He says that’s according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is also in Paris.
Carney says the the remaining parts of a potential peace deal will need to be negotiated by Ukraine, Russia and the United States.
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The prime minister says Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East and peace missions, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser will be at the meeting.
The “coalition of the willing,” a group of more than 30 countries pledged to support Ukraine, is gathering in Paris as ceasefire talks reach a critical juncture.
Carney is set to meet directly with a number of world leaders, including Mark Rutte, secretary-general of NATO, and heads of state from Denmark and Finland.
A senior government official briefing reporters on the plane to Paris said security guarantees for Ukraine will be a major part of the talks.
The official said Canada has been in talks for months about making an “appropriate and serious contribution” to those guarantees and Ottawa’s recent push to ramp up defence spending has set the country up to play a bigger role in transatlantic security.
While international headlines have been dominated in recent days by the United States’ capture of Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Maduro, the official said the focus of the leaders’ conversations Tuesday will be on Ukraine.
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