Canada is negotiating support for the EU loan to Ukraine, as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks closer transatlantic ties to reduce his country’s dependence on the United States. Financial Times reports, UNN writes.
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According to people familiar with the situation, the parties hope to agree on how much Canada will contribute to the €90 billion Ukraine loan led by Brussels before the EU summit in Montreal at the end of October.
According to sources, the Canadian prime minister sought to form an alliance of liberal states committed to the multilateral world order that had been put at risk by Donald Trump, and wanted to demonstrate his commitment to European allies by contributing to the loan to support Ukraine. The United Kingdom is the only other country outside the EU to have participated in the loan.
We are grateful for all the support Canada is providing to Ukraine, and we are ready to do more together
This week, Carney will travel to Europe, where on Wednesday in Strasbourg he will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her "State of the Union" address. He is then expected to travel to Liverpool for a meeting with the new British prime minister, Andy Burnham.
Canada has already allocated 6.5 billion Canadian dollars (US$4.7 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, and last Thursday Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a "100-year partnership" between the two countries in Canada. Next year, Kyiv will face a budget deficit due to the rising cost of the war with Russia.
Canada also hopes to conclude other agreements with the EU, seeking assistance in the trade war with the United States. Ottawa is also expected to join the European supercomputing network for joint work in artificial intelligence and sign a digital trade agreement with Brussels.