Canada to supply Ukraine with air-to-air missiles, ammunition

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Jun 2023 23:26

Trudeau said that Canada will reportedly join "multinational efforts to train fighter pilots and to help maintain Ukraine's fighter-jet program."

Meeting of the President of Ukraine with the Prime Minister of Canada, 8 May 2022 (Wikimedia)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will be providing Ukraine with 300 medium-range air-to-air missiles and 10,000 rounds of 105mm artillery ammunition.

"We will provide an additional 288 AIM-7 missiles, which will support Ukraine in its efforts to defend Ukrainian skies. And from existing funds, we will provide 10,000 rounds of 105-millimeter ammunition to the Ukraine security forces," Trudeau said at a press conference during his surprise visit to Kiev.

He added that Canada will reportedly join "multinational efforts to train fighter pilots and to help maintain Ukraine's fighter-jet program."

The CBC television reported that in an unannounced one-day visit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed in Kiev on Saturday and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail suggested that the discussions centered on Ottawa's support for Kiev and Canada's role in reconstructing Ukraine.

According to CBC, Trudeau is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

It is noteworthy that this is Trudeau's second unannounced visit to Ukraine since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022. He last visited the country in May 2022, where he reopened the Canadian Embassy in Kiev and met with Zelensky for the first time since the war began.

In April, Trudeau pledged that Canada would provide the Ukrainian forces with thousands of assault weapons, dozens of machine guns, and millions of rounds of ammunition.

Last month, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said her country would provide Ukraine with 43 short-range missiles.