The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today concluded her visit to Brussels, Belgium, where she advanced Canada's cooperation with the European Union (EU) and participated in the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
On December 2, Minister Anand met with European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis to advance discussions on vital economic assistance for Ukraine. She also met with EU Sanctions Envoy David O'Sullivan to strengthen Canada-EU cooperation on the implementation of sanctions against Russia.
On December 3, Minister Anand participated in the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, where discussions focused on Euro-Atlantic security and the challenges facing the Alliance, including Russian aggression in the Euro-Atlantic area. At the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, the Minister discussed with Allies, Ukraine and the EU the best path toward achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and underscored Canada's steadfast support for Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and the fundamental right to exist as a free nation.
Minister Anand announced $35 million in additional support to the NATO-Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine to help address Ukraine's immediate, medium- and long-term security and defence needs. In addition, she drew attention to Minister McGuinty's announcement that Canada will contribute to the purchase of a second package of critical military capabilities sourced from the United States under the NATO Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), in partnership with other NATO Allies. Canada's contribution to this PURL package will be CAD $200 million. This builds on Prime Minister Mark Carney's August announcement of Canada's full funding of an earlier PURL package, bringing the total of Canada's contribution to PURL to approximately CAD $890 million.
On the margins of the NATO ministerial meeting, Minister Anand spoke with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to underline support for Ukraine and the importance of Arctic security to Alliance security. The Minister also held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Bulgaria (Georg Georgiev), Germany (Johann Wadephul), Latvia (Baiba Braže), the Netherlands (David van Weel), Slovenia (Tanja Fajon), Spain (José Manuel Albares Bueno) and Tükiye (Hakan Fidan). These discussions advanced shared priorities and explored opportunities to strengthen economic and defence cooperation.
