Merkel to meet with Harper in Ottawa
German leader continues her push to end Ukraine crisis
OTTAWA— The Canadian Press has learned that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a short meeting in Ottawa on Monday night as she continues her frenzied transatlantic shuttle diplomacy on the Ukraine crisis.
The influential German leader will be in Washington earlier Monday for a previously scheduled meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, amid reports of a rift between the U.S. and Europe over whether to arm Ukraine’s military.
Merkel’s supper-hour arrival in Ottawa for talks with Harper afterwards will allow the prime minister to receive a private briefing from a trusted ally who is at the centre of a pivotal moment in the West’s renewed push to end the continued fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s military has been battling Russian-backed separatists since April in a conflict that the United Nations says has killed 5,300, a figure that has spiked in recent weeks.
Merkel, French President François Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke by telephone Sunday and are attempting to hold a summit this Wednesday in the Belarus capital of Minsk.
Merkel also travelled to Moscow on Friday to meet with Putin, amid reports that the U.S. is considering arming Ukraine forces, which France and Germany oppose. Canada has not committed to arming Ukraine forces either.
Harper has taken a harder line toward Putin than his fellow G7 leaders, and a senior government source says that’s not likely to change.
But the source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, says Harper is eager to get an update from Merkel on the Ukraine-Russia standoff.
“He will be very interested in hearing her take on those discussions,” said the source. “I don’t anticipate any phone calls between the prime minister and Mr. Putin any time soon.”
On Monday, talks resume in Berlin in preparation for Wednesday’s summit. Putin said all sides must first agree on their positions before talks can take place.
The outcome of discussions on a peace agreement potentially determines whether a wider war can be avoided as violence escalates in Ukraine. With files from Bloomberg