(OTTAWA) Russia will react to Canada’s “hostile gesture” by hitting it with economic sanctions, the Canadian embassy warned on Wednesday, criticizing Ottawa’s “new attitude” in foreign affairs.
Posted at 3:13 p.m.
“The unilateral sanctions against Russia announced by the Government of Canada are illegitimate and illegal,” said a statement posted on the Twitter account of the Kremlin’s diplomatic mission in the Canadian capital.
“Under the principle of reciprocity, Russia will respond to this hostile gesture (“unfriendly gesture”)it writes, calling it “ridiculous” to sanction members of the Russian parliament who voted in favor of recognizing the pro-Russian separatist territories of Donetsk and Lugansk.
The embassy continues by vigorously criticizing this decision of the Trudeau government, without however naming it explicitly. “This is new in the behavior of Canadian liberal democracy in international affairs,” the statement read.
The government yesterday announced a “first round” of economic sanctions that will remain in place “until Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored” to sanction President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent territories.
Russian ambassador summoned
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly also instructed her deputy minister on Tuesday to summon Moscow’s ambassador to Ottawa, Oleg V Stepanov, to “clearly express Canada’s position” on this subject.
According to the Russian embassy, the head of mission complied. “The meeting took place at 3 p.m. yesterday (February 22). Ambassador Stepanov had the opportunity to learn about the official position of the cabinet and took this opportunity to convey, in response, the Russian position,” wrote to The Press an embassy spokesperson.