Canada wants to lift restrictions on arms exports to Ukraine – Canadian PM Trudeau

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau said this after the talks with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We are moving forward regarding the mechanism of the Automatic Firearms Country Control List," Trudeau said.

However, he stressed that Ukraine should meet a number of criteria to be put on this list.

"There is a process which requires meeting a number of criteria, but we are working on it," the Canadian Prime Minister said.

At the same time, Trudeau did not mention specific dates when this process could end.

The Automatic Firearms Country Control List defines the countries, which Canada allows its domestic producers to supply weapons to. Currently, there are 35 countries on the list, including Botswana, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Colombia. Ukraine is not on the list so far.

In April 2017, Canadian National Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan stated that opening of the arms market would become the next step in the defense cooperation between Canada and Ukraine.

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