Andrii Melnyk addressed the meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Senate of Canada

On February 16 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Melnyk addressed the meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the upper House of the Parliament of Canada in an online format.

Andrii Melnyk expressed gratitude to the Canadian party for the significant political support of Ukraine on the international arena, financial and humanitarian aid, as well as the provided modern weapons to protect our country from unprovoked aggression by the Russian Federation.

Special attention was paid to the importance of providing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with modern Canadian-made armored personnel carriers, the NASAMS system and the involvement of Canada in the international tank coalition through the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks. Andrii Melnyk called on the parliamentarians to increase the volumes of military-technical assistance, including its aviation component, to the end of preventing escalation from the Russian Federation on the battlefield.

The Deputy Minister emphasized the priority of increasing effective sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation and ensuring the legal responsibility of the aggressor-state, as well as the establishment of an international compensation mechanism for damages caused to Ukraine.

Besides, the Ukrainian diplomat provided detailed answers to a number of questions from the members of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that concerned the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, the deepening of regional cooperation in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, joint measures to neutralize the nuclear threats created by the occupying forces of the Russian Federation in the area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the security situation near the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine as a result of indiscriminate shelling and destruction of critical infrastructure facilities on the territory of our state by the Russian Federation.

The Canadian parliamentarians expressed their gratitude for participation of the Ukrainian diplomat in the session of the specialized committee of the Senate of Canada and emphasized the importance of the information provided, which they shall use in their legislative activities, in particular, to encourage the government to take more active actions in support of Ukraine.

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