Standing with Ukraine
Few Canadian prime ministers have ever spoken of a fellow leader in the terms Stephen Harper reserves for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In referring to the Russian autocrat, Harper tosses diplomacy aside and speaks with a brusqueness and intensity that reflects what is evidently a deeply held distaste for the man and the system he represents.
“Mr. Putin … runs an economy that is dominated by oligarchs and criminal syndicates. It is not at all like our economy, it doesn’t share our interests, it doesn’t share our values,” he said Sunday while attending a Group of Seven summit in Germany, from which Russia was excluded. “We are having a discussion on the shared interests of the Western democratic world,” he continued. “Mr. Putin, who is in no way part of that, has no place at the table.”
Russia was ejected from the G7 over its annexation of Crimea and military support for antigovernment forces in Ukraine. Harper famously confronted the Russian leader at a face-to-face meeting in November, telling him to “get out of Ukraine.” He says there is little likelihood Moscow will be welcomed back into the G7, charging that its presence “was undermining the coherence and effectiveness” of the group and bluntly dismissing Russian claims of innocence in Ukraine: “I think as long as that’s the view that they are going to take, that they’re just going to treat us like we are all stupid, there really is no point in having a dialogue with them.”
Words are easy, but Harper’s government has been backing up its rhetoric with action. Ottawa has pledged financial aid and satellite imagery to help in the fight against Russianbacked forces. Ukrainian troops have been supplied with 1,600 first aid kits identical to those used by Canadian troops, and Ukrainian instructors to train in their use. Canada has a large contingent among the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitoring the fighting in eastern Ukraine, which has intensified again with Russian backing, and will send 200 military trainers to a base inside Ukraine in August. On Saturday, Harper pledged an additional $5 million to build a new civilian patrol police force. Defence Minister Jason Kenney earlier indicated Canada would consider contributing troops if NATO decides to establish an army brigade next door to Russia in one of the three Baltic states. Canadian troops have also taken part in military exercises across Europe meant as a sign to Moscow of Western unity and determination.
Harper promised Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko Saturday that he would press other summit leaders to keep up sanctions on Russia, and was as good as his word, insisting Western countries maintain and even intensify the sanctions regime as long as Moscow continues to flout international warnings and ignore a ceasefire agreement reached in February. Both U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to keep the heat on Moscow as long as it continued its “aggression” in Ukraine.
Although the Prime Minister’s hard line undoubtedly wins him support within Canada’s 1.2-million strong Ukraine community, to suggest his stand is crass politicking is mistaken. Canada has plenty of other ethnic communities that could be wooed at much less risk and expense. Harper clearly feels strongly about the antidemocratic agenda Putin has embraced and the threat it represents to Canadian interests. At the same time, he has avoided making rash unilateral commitments, asserting that Canada can only act in cooperation with its allies. Just as Putin conceded last week that “only an insane person” would contemplate a Russian attack on NATO, no one could imagine Canada taking on Moscow outside the bounds of the alliance.
Which is not to say we can’t do still more. Canada has the means to help make life increasingly uncomfortable for Putin and his cronies and should continue to do so. Money, training and whatever military assistance we can supply, including weapons and munitions, must be made available. Still, Ottawa’s continued commitment on this file deserves credit, and reflects the Harper government’s view that Canada is a country with clout that has an important role to play in international conflicts. Canada is not the largest power in the G7, but Harper’s determined advocacy of the Ukraine cause has ensured that our voice is heard, and carries influence.