Canada remains fully committed to providing assistance to Ukraine, helping to preserve and protect its sovereignty and to reform the military, Canadian defense minister Harjit Singh Sajjan said during a press briefing in Kyiv on Sept. 26.
During his second visit to Ukraine since joining Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet in November 2015, Sajjan was given a red carpet welcome at the Ministry of Defense and met his Ukrainian counterpart, Stepan Poltorak.
The meeting of the two officials lasted for roughly hour-and-a-half.
“We talked about shared values and strong bones of friendship between our two countries,” the Canadian minister summarized during a briefing. “We spoke about areas where we can expand our defense cooperation.”
According to Poltorak, the parties agree on details involving the possible introduction of a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine’s war-torn east. The Ukrainian minister also said that a significant progress has been made towards including Ukraine into the Canada’s green-light list of countries approved for selling weapons and vehicles.
Moreover, the two parties have been discussing establishing a joint production of ammunition in Ukraine. So far, the biggest success in the bilateral cooperation has been made within ranks of training program at the Yavoriv firing range in the Lviv Oblast, where almost 600 Ukrainian servicemen underе
So far, the biggest success in the bilateral cooperation has been made within ranks of a training program at the Yavoriv firing range in the Lviv Oblast, where almost 600 Ukrainian servicemen undertook training by Canadian instructors, both officials also claimed, adding that the program has been extended to March 2019.
