“This is part of that overall commitment, we’re continuing to provide it. It’s part of a bigger puzzle in a conflict where Ukraine is gaining some advantage,” Carney told reporters while in Armenia on May 4.
Carney announced the funding in Yerevan, where he is meeting with several world leaders at the European Political Community summit, an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions about the future of Europe. Canada is the first non-European country to attend the summit, which has taken place twice per year since it was formed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The PMO said Carney met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the margins of the summit, and the two discussed the war and efforts to secure a “just and lasting peace.”
In his remarks to reporters before his meeting with Zelenskyy on May 4, Carney said the latest funding contribution would help strengthen Ukraine’s fighting capabilities in ongoing efforts to secure peace and prosperity for its people. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was grateful for Canada’s support.
Carney noted that Canada had pledged $2.4 billion for Ukraine in February, and the announcement was part of that funding. On Feb. 24, Ottawa had announced $2 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, as well as $20 million to help rebuild infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks.
In his remarks at the opening of the summit on May 4, Carney said Canada was attending because there is “immense potential” for partnerships with European countries. “The world is undergoing a rupture across several dimensions, in technology, in energy, in commerce, and geopolitics,” Carney said.
The prime minister said countries needed to “actively take on the world as it is, not as we wish it to be” and that “nostalgia is not a strategy.” He said gatherings such as the European Political Community summit “point to a better way forward.”
