Prime Minister Mark Carney next to General Jennie Carignan, Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, at an Air Force base in Trenton, Ont., on Aug. 8. Mr. Carney plans to meet with Canadian troops in Poland as well as in Latvia, where Canada leads a multinational NATO brigade.Cole Burston/Reuters
Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Kyiv Sunday to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, visiting the country during a potentially pivotal moment in its war with Russia.
Mr. Carney arrived in the capital Sunday morning and is scheduled to take part in a series of meetings and events throughout the day.
Events marking Ukraine’s 34th Independence Day are also scheduled to take place across Canada Sunday.
The visit, which was not announced in advance, is part of a broader tour that also includes stops in Poland, Germany and Latvia.
The focus of the trip is to talk with European leaders about efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end, meet with Canadian Forces, and build on Mr. Carney’s efforts to diversify international trade at a time of economic tension with the United States.
Canada’s military has helped train thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and Mr. Carney plans to meet with Canadian troops in Warsaw, as well as in Riga, where Canada leads a multinational NATO brigade.
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Canada may play a role in future security guarantees for Ukraine, Carney says
There are approximately 2,000 Canadian Armed Forces members deployed in Latvia as part of Operation Reassurance, which is Canada’s largest overseas mission.
The NATO mission is aimed at deterring Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently raised expectations of a potential end to the war with his Aug. 15 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
That was followed by a White House summit where Mr. Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders, during which Mr. Trump stepped out to update Mr. Putin by phone.
Despite the flurry of diplomacy, talks have reached an impasse as the two sides remain far apart.
In the first two years of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine marked its Independence Day with a display of destroyed Russian tanks and military vehicles, lined up in a parade that stretched more than 500 metres down Khreshchatyk Street, in the heart of Kyiv.
It was intended as a statement of resilience, a tongue-in-cheek retort to reports that Russians had planned a military parade in the capital: in 2022, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that it was a “reminder to all dictators how their plans may be ruined by a free and courageous nation.”
But in 2024, and again this year, there was no such display. On Sunday, Khreshchatyk remained open to normal vehicle traffic, and public events to mark Independence Day were few and muted. In Kyiv, for the most part, Ukrainians approached the holiday as a day like any other.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv on Friday and told reporters that an agreement would comprise “two layers,” an end to the fighting and support for Ukraine’s military followed by U.S. and European security guarantees. Mr. Zelensky added that guarantees should make clear which countries would help secure the country’s air, land and sea against Russian aggression.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow must be involved in negotiations over security guarantees, a position that Mr. Zelensky rejects. Mr. Lavrov told NBC on Friday that there were no plans for a bilateral meeting between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Putin.
And in the past few days, Russia conducted one of its largest missile and drone attacks on western Ukraine, including Lviv.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February, 2022 and is now in control of parts of eastern Ukraine.
During a news conference Friday in Ottawa, Mr. Carney said Canada may play a role in security guarantees for Ukraine in the event that an agreement is reached to end the war.
He said Canada is a core member of an alliance of about 30 countries called the “coalition of the willing” that is supporting Ukraine.
Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan, and other Canadian officials are participating in discussions with allies about what form those guarantees may take.
“It’s a fluid situation. It’s a delicate situation,” Mr. Carney said, adding that discussions among allies include planning related to weapons, training as well as land, air and sea support. He said Canada “might play” a role within that broader group.
“Canada has the potential to have an important role. So, we’re very engaged in these sets of issues,” he said, adding that the situation was discussed during his phone conversation this week with Mr. Trump.
A senior government official said cabinet will ultimately have to decide what form this support might take, but added that Canadian boots on the ground in Ukraine has not been ruled out. The Globe is not identifying the official because the comments were made in a background briefing for journalists.
During Friday’s news conference, Mr. Carney also said he is scheduled to meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday.
He said those talks will focus on expanding trade opportunities in critical minerals and energy as well as discussions related to defence and security.
Mr. Carney’s Liberal Party campaigned on a pledge to expand trade with Europe and other allies as a way of countering Mr. Trump’s economic foreign policy.
The U.S. has imposed tariffs on Canada’s steel, aluminum and auto sector as part of a stated effort to rebalance global trade in America’s favour. Mr. Trump also increased a blanket tariff on Canadian goods to 35 per cent from 25 per cent after the two countries failed to reach an agreement by an Aug. 1 deadline.
Mr. Carney said Friday that Canada is still in an enviable position because it secured a carve-out for Canadian imports that comply with North American free-trade rules of origin, which he said covers around 85 per cent of Canadian exports to the U.S.
An Aug. 25 meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is expected to focus heavily on economic matters related to energy, aerospace and defence.
After his Tuesday meetings in Berlin, Mr. Carney’s last stop of the trip will be a meeting on Wednesday in Riga with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina. He will also visit members of the Canadian Forces at the Adazi Military Base.
With reports from Reuters and the Associated Press