OTTAWA 鈥� sa国际传媒 announced plans Tuesday to deploy hundreds of additional troops to eastern Europe and impose new sanctions against Russia as Western democracies rushed to respond to the deployment of Russian forces into Ukraine.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Russia鈥檚 actions during a late afternoon news conference in which he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having ordered an invasion of eastern Ukraine 鈥� and attacking democracy.
鈥淩ussia鈥檚 flagrant disregard for the independence of a sovereign nation is a serious threat to security and stability in the region and around the world,鈥� he said.聽
鈥渟a国际传媒 and our allies will defend democracy. We are taking these actions today in a stand against authoritarianism.鈥�
Yet it remained unclear what if anything the new measures, which Trudeau announced in concert with similar moves by sa国际传媒鈥檚 allies in the United States and across Europe, would do to end the crisis.
Putin on Monday signed a decree recognizing the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine鈥檚 eastern industrial land as independent republics. He then ordered Russian troops to cross the border into those areas, saying they were being deployed as 鈥減eacekeepers.鈥�
Donetsk and Luhansk have been embroiled in fighting for the past eight years after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and started providing support to pro-Russian separatists in the two eastern regions. An estimated 14,000 people have died in that conflict.
Putin鈥檚 actions on Monday sparked a new chapter in that fight and came after a massive Russian military buildup on the country鈥檚 border with Ukraine sparked weeks of furious negotiations and dialogue to prevent an invasion that many fear could spark a broader war in Europe.
Trudeau followed U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders in condemning Putin鈥檚 actions as he delivered sa国际传媒鈥檚 response alongside Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Defence Minister Anita Anand.
sa国际传媒 is sending an additional 460 troops to reinforce the NATO military alliance in eastern Europe, Trudeau said. That includes a 100-soldier artillery unit to Latvia, which will join 540 other Armed Forces members leading a NATO battlegroup in the Baltic state.
A Canadian frigate, the HMCS Halifax, and a CP-140 Aurora patrol plane are also being deployed to eastern Europe, with all the promised forces expected in theatre by the end of March.
The prime minister said the measures are intended to 鈥渞einforce our commitment to NATO and promote peace and security in the region.鈥�
While the additional Canadian forces will no doubt be welcome by Latvia and NATO, which had been hoping for reinforcements for the past few weeks, Trudeau sidestepped a question about why the government did not announce them sooner.
Putin previously demanded that NATO promise not to admit Ukraine as an alliance member, and that the organization withdraw all its forces from post-Soviet-controlled countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.
At the same time, the Latvian government had been asking for additional NATO troops for weeks even as other alliance members such as the United States, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands moved to reinforce the organization鈥檚 military presence in eastern Europe.
鈥淥ne of the things that we have seen with Putin's demands around Ukraine and NATO presence that far from seeing a reduction of Western forces in eastern Europe,鈥� Trudeau said. 鈥淰ladimir Putin has achieved the opposite.鈥�
The prime minister also announced what he described as a first round of sanctions against Russia, which include banning any financial dealings with Luhansk and Donetsk, and Russian politicians who supported a motion calling for them to be recognized as independent.
sa国际传媒 is also applying sanctions on two Russian banks and barring the purchase of Russian sovereign debt, following Washington, London and other allies in an attempt to strangle Russia鈥檚 financial means to fund any war effort.
鈥淎s the economic pressure mounts from the sanctions imposed by sa国际传媒 and its allies, Russia will need to seek new funding by leveraging their sovereign debt,鈥� Freeland said.
鈥淲e will make it illegal for Canadians to join in that effort, both directly and indirectly. Without a way to recover these costs the Russian economy will be severely impacted.鈥�
She added that further sanctions will be imposed if Russia continues with its aggression.
sa国际传媒 and its allies had previously warned Moscow of severe economic consequences if it invaded Ukraine. Yet Western powers also made clear the fate of Ukraine wasn't worth a direct military confrontation with Russia and the possibility of a world war.
The threat of financial ruin appears to have done little to dissuade Putin, and the question remained Tuesday about how effective such threats will be in preventing a broader war.
Trudeau suggested Putin had underestimated the degree to which Europe and North America would respond to any violation of Ukraine鈥檚 territorial integrity and sovereignty, including Germany鈥檚 decision to suspend the certification of a key natural gas pipeline with Russia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz鈥檚 announcement on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline 鈥� a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow, but criticized by the U.S. for increasing Europe鈥檚 reliance on Russian energy 鈥� headlined Europe鈥檚 response to Putin鈥檚 actions.
Asked what sa国际传媒 wants to see from Russia, Trudeau said: "We are looking for Russia to stand down, to cease its violations of Ukrainian sovereignty, Ukrainian territorial integrity, to return to negotiation tables."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2022.
鈥� with files from The Associated Press.
Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
