As Group of Seven top diplomats met on the northern side of Niagara Falls this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday thanked Canadian host, Prime Minister Mark Carney, for new sanctions targeting Russia’s drone program, digital infrastructure used for hybrid warfare, liquefied gas trade, and 100 ships of the so-called shadow fleet.
“A strong step aligned with UA’s priorities and G7 unity. Russia factors in only pressure and adopted sanctions are a real investment in peace,” Zelensky stated on Telegram.
He stressed the importance of further restrictions on Russian fossil fuels resources, adding that the world must completely deprive Moscow of the sources of income that finance its nearly three-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
As one of the top priorities of its G7 presidency this year, Canadian leaders said, Ottawa will ramp up support for Ukraine.
“Canada has made it its priority to strengthen support for Ukraine at every opportunity,” said Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand. “Canada will continue to ensure that Russia’s actions do not go unpunished. “
“We firmly believe in the need for further collective pressure on Russia. Sanctions and other economic measures that reduce Russia’s revenues and weaken its military-industrial base play an important role in this,” Anand noted.
She emphasized that since 2014, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 3,300 individuals and institutions associated with the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, as well as against 300 vessels of the shadow fleet.
“We are taking concrete steps and making it clear to Russia that those who contribute to its war will face consequences, in accordance with Canadian law,” the minister stressed.
The sanctions target 13 individuals and 11 entities is in alignment with similar actions by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.
She noted that Canadian sanctions against Russia are “not only economic measures, but also a moral stance designed to show that violations of international law will not go unanswered.”
“Canada will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in the short, medium and long term. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are one of our key international priorities,” she concluded.
Anand and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on the margins of the summit Wednesday, where they spoke about a range of issues including Ukraine, the Middle East, Haiti and Arctic sovereignty.
Asked repeatedly whether she spoke with Rubio about Canada-US trade, Anand deflected those questions by saying that issue that falls into the brief of Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.
“Minister LeBlanc is working hard on this file every single day,” Anand told reporters. “And I am here to talk about the work that the G7 ministers are doing together.”
US President Donald Trump suspended trade talks with Ottawa last month, and threatened an additional 15 percent tariff on Canadian imports in response to an Ontario-sponsored ad campaign during the baseball World Series, a spot that quoted former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
While Carney apologized for the ad, and appeared friendly with Trump at a global leaders’ meeting in South Korea, the negotiations have not resumed.
Anand wrapped up Canada’s G7 presidential term by making a case for shoring up new trading relationships in response to Trump’s tariffs. Anand also invited Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and South Korea to take part, even if Brazil, South Africa and India are already part of their own trade bloc with Russia, BRICS.
As the summit closed, foreign ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union issued a pongnant joint statement about
support for Ukraine after Russia again attacked the Ukrainian power grid and overran areas in the country’s south.
“We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force,” the joint statement said.