Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie JolyWASHINGTON Feb 1Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, during a debate in the national parliament, avoided answering the question of one of the legislators about whether the country's leadership plans to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons to strengthen its defense capability in light of the escalation plans attributed to Russia. «Me and my colleague, the deputy, agree that it is necessary to prevent further invasion (of the Russian Federation — ed.) into Ukraine. However, now the most important thing is to focus our efforts on diplomacy and deterrence. That is what we are doing,» said Joly, whose speech was broadcast by Global News. The Foreign Ministry stressed that Ottawa is absolutely committed to a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, she separately noted that any possible subsequent «aggression» from Russia would meet with coordinated economic sanctions from Western countries. Russia has repeatedly rejected the accusations of the West and Ukraine of «aggressive actions», stating that it does not threaten anyone and is not going to attack anyone , and statements about «Russian aggression» are used as an excuse to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. The Russian Foreign Ministry previously noted that Western statements about «Russian aggression» and the ability to help Kiev defend itself against it are both ridiculous and dangerous. Since 2014, NATO countries led by the United States have been supplying weapons to Ukraine and training its military, which directly violates the Minsk agreements and negatively affects the settlement in Donbass. In addition to the Americans, Great Britain, Canada, France, Poland, Turkey, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, and Estonia participate in deliveries totaling billions of dollars. The United States supplied Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank missile systems, patrol boats, sniper rifles and counter-battery radar stations, Great Britain — NLAW anti-tank grenade launchers, Turkey — Bayraktar TB2 attack drones. Ukraine and the UK signed a memorandum that provides for the joint design and construction of warships on the territory of the two countries and the construction of two bases for the Ukrainian Navy. fifth aircraft with US military assistance
