Canada has pledged more than $1 billion in defence and energy assistance to Ukraine, including funding for Patriot air defence interceptors and ammunition for F-16 fighter jets. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the package at a joint press conference in Calgary, Alberta.
Carney said Russia was intensifying what he called a barbaric air war against Ukraine, indiscriminately targeting civilians, which made Ukraine's air defences increasingly important. He said Canada and Ukraine had signed an agreement earlier that day to supply critically important interceptor missiles for air defence through the United States' JUMPSTART mechanism.
Canada is setting aside $350 million for an equipment package intended to help protect the Ukrainian people, infrastructure and skies, Carney said.
Zelensky thanks Canada for air defence support
Zelensky thanked Canada for the new defence package, saying it would strengthen Ukraine's air defence, both for its Patriot systems and for the combat aircraft that shoot down Russian jet-powered Shahed drones. He called the package very important.
Zelensky also said Canada was currently training Ukrainian pilots, with 21 Ukrainians taking part in the training. He said this would represent a substantial boost alongside other countries that are training Ukrainian personnel on combat aviation at various stages.
Energy support ahead of winter
Carney said Canada would also help Ukraine get through the coming winter, allocating more than $430 million in loan guarantees to help Ukraine buy gas.
Zelensky thanked Canada for the energy arrangements, saying they were very important and that the concrete agreements reached that day in the energy sector would strengthen Ukraine both before the coming winter and over the longer term.
Zelensky said the overall Canadian government support package totalled more than $1 billion, including $40 million for a fund supporting Ukrainian veterans. He said the defence portion of the package was focused above all on protecting Ukraine's skies, missiles for the Patriot systems, and ammunition for F-16s. A separate business package was also agreed, he added.
Canada preparing new sanctions on Russia
Zelensky said Canada was also preparing several important sanctions packages against Russia. He said it was important to accelerate the rollout of what he described as anti-ballistic sanctions, aimed at making it harder for Russia to produce ballistic missiles.
Zelensky said it was right to simultaneously seek interceptor missiles for the Patriot systems while increasing pressure on every Russian enterprise and every counterparty helping Russia produce ballistic weapons elsewhere in the world. He said Canada was preparing such an anti-ballistic sanctions package for the autumn, and that he hoped it would be accelerated so it could take effect as early as October.
Centennial partnership and drone deal signed
Zelensky and Carney also signed a declaration on a centennial partnership between Ukraine and Canada. Carney said that in the coming months, the two countries would formalise a long-term cooperation framework covering defence and security, trade, investment, reconstruction, energy, critical minerals and technology.
Carney said the two peoples had been connected since 1893, adding that the relationship had flourished for more than a century and would continue to flourish long after the war ends. He said Ukrainians had helped build Canada, and Canadians would help rebuild Ukraine.
The two leaders also signed a joint declaration on strengthening defence and security cooperation, covering the future conclusion of a larger agreement known as the Drone Deal. Zelensky said the arrangement would give Ukraine more capacity to finance its defence and give Canada access to new technological capabilities tested in modern warfare.
Zelensky said the signing marked a step toward launching joint drone production, with 30% of the drones produced to be sent directly to Ukraine's Defence Forces at the front.
He said Ukrainian and Canadian teams had told the two leaders a full drone deal could be concluded within 90 days, before Carney asked whether it could be done in nine days instead, a proposal Zelensky said the teams immediately agreed to. Zelensky said he expected the larger drone deal to be concluded in New York.
Energy cooperation statement
Separately, Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Denys Shmyhal, and Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Tim Hodgson, signed a statement on energy cooperation between the two countries.
Canada has previously said it intends to join FREYJA, a European anti-ballistic missile programme initiated by Kyiv, and to contribute its own technology to the effort. It has also recently been reported that Canada could supply Ukraine with the CM-70 anti-drone missile.
