Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada believes in supporting Ukraine.
Joly spoke with reporters yesterday in response to questions surrounding yesterday’s tense and fractious meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, his Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Voices were raised as Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy, calling him “disrespectful” and suggesting that he has not offered his thanks for U.S. help in his fight against invading forces from Russia.
Photo via C-Span
World leaders have responded in shock, with many European leaders reiterating their support for Ukraine.
Joly says Canada’s response after seeing the belligerent exchange that played out before rolling television cameras, is the same as it has always been.
She says Ukrainians are fighting for their own freedoms, “but they’re also fighting for ours,” because “if we’re not supporting Ukraine, there is a real risk that President Putin will go back to Russia, re-arm, and re-invade Ukraine, which would become a security threat” not only for Ukraine, but for NATO as well, “which is us.”
Joly says Russia is taking note of the interaction in the Oval Office yesterday, and Canada’s goal is to make sure it is supporting Ukrainians and keep “very strong G-7 unity amidst all this unpredictability and chaos.”
