Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has arrived on Parliament Hill where he is to address a joint session of the House of Commons and Senate.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the former candy billionaire exchanged warm greetings and affirmed their mutual solidarity and support in brief remarks, after Harper gave Poroshenko a red-carpet welcome to the Centre Block.
“I know it’s a very difficult time and we’re greatly honoured that you were able to share this time with us on your visit to North America and to give us the opportunity to express our support for your government,” Harper told the visitor during a photo opportunity in his office.
Speaking in English, Poroshenko lauded Canada for its unwavering support of Ukraine not just in the recent months of crisis but over the years. “Canada is one of the very closest partners to Ukraine. We still remember that Canada was the second country after Poland to recognize our independence,” Poroshenko said.
“Canada is the most Ukrainian country outside Ukraine.”
There are about 1.2 million Ukrainian Canadians and they form a powerful voting bloc in some key Toronto ridings as well as in communities across the Prairies.
Poroshenko arrived in Ottawa on Tuesday night, hours after Ukraine agreed to grant greater autonomy to rebel-held parts of the country’s east.
A nearly two-week-old cease fire is holding in Ukraine, but tension continues between government forces and Russian-backed rebels in the east. A building in Donetsk was hit by rocket fire today, killing at least one person.
Earlier this week, Poroshenko signed a co-operation agreement with the European Union that will deepen economic and political ties and help cement Ukraine’s focus towards Europe and away from Russia.
It was a decision last fall by former president Viktor Yanukovych to abandon an EU co-operation pact in favour of closer ties with Russia that sparked the popular uprising and plunged Ukraine into months of turmoil.
About 3,000 people have been killed, leaving the West and Russia — with Ukraine caught in the middle — mired in their worst crisis since the end of the Cold War.
Harper has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and was the first world leader to visit Poroshenko in Kyiv in June, shortly after he was elected.
The Harper government has also been a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, joining an international sanctions effort. Harper has blamed Putin personally for threatening world peace by provoking the unrest in eastern Ukraine and annexing the Crimean peninsula. On Tuesday, Canada announced more sanctions and travel bans aimed at ratcheting up the pressure on Putin.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird also announced that Canada will send 200 election observers and a dozen members of Parliament to Ukraine next month to help monitor parliamentary elections.
Earlier this week, the Canadian Group for Democracy in Ukraine sent an open letter to Harper asking him to send military assistance to the country.
So far, neither Canada nor other NATO members have supplied any military aid to Ukraine. (THECANADIANPRESS)
Photo: The Canadian Press – iUkranian president Petro Poroshenko inspects an honour guard as he arrives on Parliament Hill Wednesday Sept. 17, 2014 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
