Kyiv, Ukraine - 6 June 2015
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today concluded his third successful visit to Ukraine since March 2014. During the visit, the Prime Minister met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and reaffirmed that Canada would continue to stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression and support Ukraine’s economic and democratic reforms.
The leaders agreed that the Putin regime’s ongoing aggression must be met with firm resolve, including the application of economic sanctions. They also agreed that Russia and Ukraine must fulfill their obligations under the Minsk agreements. In addition, the leaders discussed the need for Ukraine to continue undertaking its ambitious reforms as well as the desire to conclude the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement in the near future. To this end, Prime Minister Harper announced that Canadian negotiators will return to Ukraine on June 15th with the aim of concluding negotiations as soon as possible.
While in Kyiv, Prime Minister Harper visited the PoliceAcademy of the Ministry of Interior and announced new projects to advance democracy and help reform the country’s security sector. Under these initiatives, Canada will help the country build a new civilian patrol police force through activities focused on community policing, in-service training, public outreach and engagement, and providing the new force members with uniforms and equipment. Canada will also deploy up to ten Canadian police officers to train this new police force as well as provide strategic guidance to other security institutions.
