Russians slam ‘short-sighted’ prime minister

Russian parliamentarians are objecting to Canada’s plans to sell weapons to Ukraine.

After a Friday meeting with visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is beginning the lengthy process to certify Ukraine to buy Canadian weapons.

In statements reported by Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency, lawmaker Andrei Krasov called Trudeau’s comments “short-sighted” and said Russia should “do everything possible to prevent it from happening.”

Krasov, a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, is a leading member of the Russian State Duma’s defence committee.

"Canada’s leadership should not be concerned about lethal weapons deliveries to Ukraine,” said Krasov, according to Sputnik. He said Canada should instead worry about compelling Poroshenko to implement the Minsk agreements.

Those agreements, signed in 2014, provide a roadmap for Russian and pro-Russian forces occupying parts of eastern Ukraine to lay down their arms in exchange for Ukrainian constitutional changes.

As recently as Saturday, a Ukrainian soldier was reported killed as a result of pro-Russian action. Since 2014, the conflict has killed an estimated 10,000 people.

On Friday, Trudeau denounced the “illegal, illegitimate incursion of Russia into Ukrainian territory.”