OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to speak with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today as relations between the two countries have been strained by Canada’s controversial decision to send repaired parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany.
Earlier this month Canada agreed to issue an exemption to the economic sanctions issued against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The two-year waiver would allow six Siemens Energy turbines, which were in Montreal for repairs, to be returned to Germany for use in the Russian state-owned Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Trudeau defended the decision and explained Canada’s German ally relies on the natural gas supply from the pipeline, but in a written and video address last week Zelenskyy called the move “absolutely unacceptable.”
The Ottawa chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has planned a protest on Parliament Hill later today to urge the government to revoke the waiver.
The group says Canada bowed to Russian blackmail and set a dangerous precedent that will lead to the weakening of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia.