Minister Kenney meets with Ukrainian President Poroshenko and other government officials in Kyiv

News Release

June 26, 2015

Kyiv, Ukraine – Defence Minister Jason Kenney today met with several high ranking Ukrainian government officials in Kyiv, on the first day of a two-day visit to the country. Minister Kenney held bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, Defence Minister Colonel General Stepan Poltorak, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin.

During these meetings, the Minister reiterated Canada’s steadfast resolve to stand by Ukraine in the face of the Putin regime's aggression and reinforced its support for Ukrainian economic and democratic reforms.

Minister Kenney also met with Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, and Mustafa Djemilev, Community Leader of the Crimean Tatars, to discuss religious freedom in Ukraine, including Crimea.

Quick Facts

During his meeting with Ukrainian President Poroshenko, Minister Kenney discussed Canada's continued support for Ukraine in its efforts to counter the Putin regime’s aggression, including by providing strong practical support in the form of non-lethal military equipment and training that will help modernize and improve operational effectiveness of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In his meeting with Prime Minister Yatseniuk, Minister Kenney stressed the Government of Canada’s commitment to working toward cooperative agreements and joint ventures that will bolster Ukraine economic development, encourage the rule of law, and enable Ukraine to defend its sovereignty.
In his meeting with Minister of Defence Colonel General Poltorak, they reviewed Canada’s commitment of approximately 200 CAF soldiers to help train Ukrainian security forces, as announced by Prime Minister Harper in April of this year. The Ministers discussed the recent arrival of an advance team, which they will visit jointly tomorrow in Yavoriv. The Ministers also noted their pleasure in seeing this pledge move forward.
Minister Kenney and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin discussed ways the Government of Canada can continue to build upon its efforts from the Declaration of Intent signed by then-Minister of National Defence Nicholson in December 2014, particularly on defence capacity-building. The Ministers discussed opportunities for working together in terms of military technical cooperation, and joint ventures in trade, development and procurement.
Minister Kenney encouraged the Ukrainian government to sign on to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
While in Kyiv, Minister Kenney also laid a wreath at Heavenly Hundred Street to commemorate the victims of the Maidan shootings, the worst clash of violence between protesters and police prior to the fall of the Yanukovych regime in February 2014.

Quotes

“Vladimir Putin’s campaign of aggression against Ukraine cannot stand. Canadians can be proud of the support that our country is providing through the Canadian Armed Forces to help Ukraine preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of National Defence