Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as his wife Olena Zelenska looks on, as they arrive at the Ottawa airport for a visit to Canada, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on Parliament Hill and set to addressthe House of Commons, followinga series of meetings with senior Canadian officials.
MPs and senators are milling about the chamber, where seats have been placed along the central aisle, as is typical when foreign dignitaries address the Commons.
Guests including prominent diplomats, lobbyists and some children are circling the chamber, with dozens of MPs and visitors wearing traditional Ukranian embroidery and many others wearing blue.
The ambassadors and high commissioners for G7 countries in Canada are seated together in a prominent spot in the hanging galleries that overlook the chamber.
Zelenskyy is speaking following a late-morning welcoming ceremony that included the leaders of House parties and Senate groups, along with the Speakers of both chambers.
Zelenskyy thanked Canadians for their support and asked that it continue during remarks at the beginning of a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“You helped us on the battlefield financially and (with) humanitarian aid, which is crucial,” Zelenskyy said in English, sitting across from the prime minister.
He added that he wants to discover “your beautiful country” after the “common victory,” adding that he might bring his children to Canada on such a visit.
The office of Prime Minister Jusitn Trudeau says those invited to attend the president’s address in Parliament include former foreign-affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy, the head of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and a delegation of scientists with Natural Resources Canada who will soon head to Ukraine as part of an exchange program.
Also invited are former Gov.-Gen. David Johnston, who stepped down this year as special rapporteur on foreign interference, as well as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre and RCMP Deputy Commissioner Brian Larkin.
Zelenskyy’s appearance in the capital came with a warning Friday morning from Canada’s signals-intelligence agency, which warned of possible hacks on the websites of governments and key services.
“It’s not uncommon to see increased distributed denial of service (DDoS) campaigns against NATO countries that support Ukraine, or host visits from Ukrainian government officials,” the Communications Security Establishment said in an announcement this morning.
DDoS attacks aim to overwhelm websites using bots that swarm pages and overload servers, making it impossible for people to access sites.
CSE is calling on “operators of government and critical infrastructure websites – to adopt a heightened state of vigilance, and to bolster their awareness of and protection against malicious cyberthreats.”
In April, pro-Kremlin groups claimed responsibility for taking the websites for the Canadian Senate and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offline during the visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The last time Zelenskyywas in Canada, he was a relatively unknown leader fresh off an election win, focused on his showcasing his country’s efforts to make democratic reform and integrate with Europe.
Much has changed since July 2019.
Zelenskyy arrived in Ottawa late Thursday an instantly recognizable wartime leader in his signature olive green, focused on his country’s survival.
“He’s become a hero to a great many people, certainly to me,” Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador the United Nations, told reporters Thursday in New York.
“He’s a man of great dedication and great personal courage.”
Rae noted Canada’s significant contributions to the war effort so far – taking in thousands of Ukrainians who are fleeing the war, along with providing more than $1.8 billion in military aid, equipment and supplies.
Still, Zelenskyy and Trudeau were expected to talk about what more Canada can do to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia, 19 months after rockets starting raining down on Kyiv.
Trudeau has made the case for helping Ukraine at international gatherings including the G7, G20, NATO and at this week’s UN General Assembly.
On Wednesday, he called for a complete withdrawal of Russia’s troops and the creation of a peace pact that “respects the UN Charter, is based in international law and preserves Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”
His remarks come a month after Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked Canada to use its “diplomatic muscle” to sell Kyiv’s plan to other countries, and for Ottawa to increase its anti-landmine support and extend military funding beyond the next year.
Zelenskyy’s address in Parliament on Friday is his second since the invasion began in February 2022.
In his virtual address in March of that year, the Ukrainian leader’s main request to Parliament was for NATO to impose a no-fly zone, along with pleas for cash to help with humanitarian efforts. He told members of Parliament that 97 children had been killed at the time.
Just shy of two years later, more than 9,000 civilians have been reported killed, including more than 500 children – though the UN agency that is tracking casualties warns the actual figures are likely much higher.
Russian airstrikes continue as Ukrainian forces try to break through the front lines in a months-long counteroffensive that is moving more slowly than many had hoped.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Yuliya Kovaliv, told a Wednesday panel that Ukraine wants more military aid faster to stop Moscow from replenishing its war chest.
“The reason why it’s moving so slowly is that Russia used this moment for the last nine months, being on Ukrainian territory (and) occupying it, to build fortifications, to mine the land,” Kovaliv said at a University of Ottawa event.
“To move on this battlefield to liberate each and every village, it takes very careful operations,” she said.
“Each and every day when our partners are still hesitating, or some bureaucracy (is) moving slower to make this eventual decision of the military support (and) delivering (it) to Ukraine, unfortunately, Russia is using this each and every day to occupy, to conscript more, to produce more weapons.”
She added that Ukraine anticipates Russia will bomb civilian infrastructure this coming winter, as it had done last year. Trudeau has accused Russia of weaponizing energy and food.
At the panel, Kerry Buck, who served as Canada’s ambassador to the NATO military alliance from 2015 to 2019, said Ottawa has done a good job training Ukrainian forces, since Canada lacks a large military-industrial sector from which it could supply weapons.
But she said it’s clear that Zelenskyy needs more arms to fend off Russia.
“Ukraine must win, and I don’t think anyone is doing enough yet,” she said.
“The last year and a half has been a test of the international community, to see if they can respond with sufficient unity and purpose to protect the values that the post-war order is built on.”
Zelenskyy himself warned the United Nations Security Council this week that Russia intends to destroy the postwar order.
He called Moscow’s 2014 invasion of Crimea and the 2022 full-scale attack “criminal and unprovoked aggression” by a terrorist state, and asked the United Nations to strip its Security Council members – including Russia – of their veto.
“The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into weapons against you – against the international rules-based order,” he told the United Nations on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy is also planning to travel to Toronto to meet with business leaders and attend an event, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2023.
– With files from Mickey Djuric.
