Canada, Nordic countries agree to deepen cooperation and support for Ukraine
This is reported by Reuters, as cited by Ukrinform.
The Prime Ministers of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Canada, who met in Oslo, stated their goal is to enhance collective defense, security, and resilience through closer collaboration in defense procurement.
“We all agree that if we individually spend that money or we spend it in an uncoordinated way, it's not going to be value for taxpayers. It also will not protect our people as much as we should,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney after the meeting.
Carney aims to build closer ties with China, Middle Eastern countries, India, and Europe, seeking to reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States and create a trade order led by what he calls middle-power countries, the report notes.
“We will still do a lot of procurement with the United States... but in all cases looking to procure much more in partnership,” Carney said.
The Prime Ministers also pledged to continue providing economic, civilian, military, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
“The old world order is gone and will probably not come back. So we have to build something new and it has to be a world order that is built on the values that we represent,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters.
The Arctic-region countries’ statement emphasized that supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia is crucial for regional and European security.
“We will continue to provide economic, civilian, military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and call on all members of the Coalition of the Willing to increase their support. We will continue coordination on our overall assistance, including on sanctions to further restrict the Kremlin’s ability to fund its illegal war,” the statement reads.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who hosted the meeting, said that deeper cooperation will help ensure security and create new opportunities for economic growth.
Earlier, Ukrinform reported that Canada opposes easing sanctions on Russian oil, even amid the energy crisis caused by the war in Iran.
Photo: Regjeringen.no
