Canada should increase military aid to Ukraine, says former commander of Army

Canada should increase its military aid to Ukraine in proportion to the size of its own economy.

This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by retired Lieutenant General Andrew Leslie, former commander of the Canadian Army.

"As a Canadian who has watched this issue very closely both professionally and personally - I’m not terribly proud of the Canadian contribution. More than 40 million people live in Canada, our economy is over two trillion dollars, and if you look at the amount of equipment we’ve actually sent to Ukraine," Leslie said.

In his opinion, “Canada is by no means leading the pack. We should have been able to provide 155mm ammunition, but we shut down our factory a couple of years ago. We should have been able to provide more than eight tanks, but we didn’t buy enough to meet our own needs, let alone send them overseas. So Canada can and should do more,” the lieutenant general noted.

As reported by Ukrinform, since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Canada has already provided Ukraine with more than USD 16 billion in various financial, humanitarian, military, and other assistance.