Section: National Post (Canada)
John Ivison: Canada set to wade deeper into Ukrainian crisis as Jason Kenney floats military training mission
Canada’s involvement in the struggle for Ukraine is set to deepen, with the revelation by Jason Kenney, the defence minister, that the government is talking to Kiev about a training mission. “We’re exploring options actively about assisting Ukrainians with military training … I would say, stay tuned,” he told reporters Wednesday. The...
Moscow lied ‘to my face,’ John Kerry says as Russia’s state-controlled energy behemoth threatens to cut of Ukraine
MOSCOW — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused Moscow of lying “to my face” Tuesday as Russia warned that Ukraine could run out of natural gas within two because of a dispute over payments. The warning by Alexey B. Miller, the chief executive of Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian energy behemoth, illustrated how the hostilities between...
Rebels says they are pulling back heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine, but where are those howitzers going?
KHARTSYZK, Ukraine — Howitzers were moving away from the largest rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine, heading farther into separatist-controlled territory, and the rebels said they have begun a large-scale pullback of heavy weapons in line with an international peace plan. That plan aims to form a wide buffer zone between separatists’ and...
Ukraine can’t pull back heavy weapons from front line for ceasefire because rebels keep attacking, military says
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian military spokesman says continuing attacks from rebels are delaying Ukrainian forces’ pullback of heavy weapons from the front line in the country’s east. Under a peace agreement reached on Feb. 12, both sides are to withdraw their heavy weapons anywhere from 25 to 70 kilometres to create a buffer zone....
Bomb blast in eastern Ukraine kills 2, injures dozens on anniversary of former president’s ouster
KIEV, Ukraine — Two people were killed and about a dozen injured in a bomb explosion at a march Sunday in Ukraine’s second-largest city marking the first anniversary of the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych, the country’s interior ministry said. The Interior Ministry said the blast in the eastern city Kharkiv was due to an...
Derek Fraser: Putin’s unfinished business in Ukraine
While it may appear that Vladimir Putin has emerged on top from the negotiations on the latest ceasefire in Ukraine, the durability of the ceasefire, if it comes into effect following the end of the current combats around Debaltseve, may depend more on what Putin has not yet achieved. Putin’s primary aim in launching the conflict with...
Rebels in Ukraine feared to be zeroing in on Mariupol — which could give them a land bridge to Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Separatist rebels fired on Ukrainian positions nearly 50 times in the past 24 hours and Russia is sending more tanks into Ukraine despite a ceasefire that was supposed to take effect five days ago, a Ukrainian military spokesman said Friday. The report, which came a day after the Russian-backed rebels captured the key rail hub of...
John Ivison: Supplying weapons to Ukraine would be the next logical move for Canada
The breakdown of the ceasefire in Ukraine prompted one prominent German lawmaker to suggest it would undermine his country’s opposition to arming the Ukrainian military. “We will no longer be able to stop weapons deliveries from the U.S. and Canada,” said Karl-Georg Wellman, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic...
Leonid Bershidsky: Has Putin had enough?
At first glance, the pro-Russian rebels’ takeover of the railroad hub of Debaltseve this week, and reports of some shelling elsewhere, seem like a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement reached last week in Minsk. Yet Ukrainian troops’ orderly retreat from Debaltseve was the best possible outcome — and not just for the troops...
Docile Washington stands aside as Russia sets up puppet state in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s latest victory in Ukraine is turning into a rout. Having already induced Western leaders to endorse a peace plan that virtually guarantees continued Russian control over parts of two provinces, the Russian ruler ordered a large Ukrainian force holding Debaltseve, a key crossroads in the region, to surrender. His forces,...
