Canada’s head of diplomacy, Mlanie Joly, will travel to Kiev next week to show support for Ukraine, and highlight the need to “deter Russia” from ending “aggressive actions” against the country, the Foreign Ministry said. statement on Saturday (12).

Joly’s visit, which will depart from Ottawa on Sunday through the following weekend, and will also pass through Paris and Brussels, aims to “reaffirm Canada’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Their talks will focus on “Russian aggression and destabilizing activities in Ukraine and its neighbors,” the statement said.

The United States and its European allies have denounced for weeks that Russia has deployed 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders and Washington accused Moscow on Friday of trying to create a “pretext” to attack Ukraine.

This “regrouping of Russian troops and equipment” puts “the security of the entire region at risk,” the Canadian government said.

According to the Canadian Chancellor, “we must prevent Russia from continuing this aggressive act”, which is why her country intends to “work with its international partners to maintain the international order”.

In Kiev, Joly is expected to meet privately with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Also visit the approximately 200 Canadian troops deployed since 2015 to Ukraine through the UNIFIER mission, which aims to contribute to the training of Ukrainian troops.

Since Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, the conflict between Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists, Canada, which has a large community of Ukrainian origin, has imposed sanctions on more than 440 entities and people, many in coordination with your allies.