The list of weapons that Canada is preparing to transfer to Ukraine includes rifles, machine guns, pistols and cartridges totaling over $7 million. This was reported on Monday, February 14, in the press service of the Canadian Ministry of Defense.
“Canada will transfer more than $7 million worth of weapons and various supplies to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The provided equipment includes machine guns, pistols, carbines, 1.5 million rounds of ammunition, sniper rifles and other related equipment,” the message says.
It is also noted that Canada continues to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine, and in addition condemns “the aggression of Russia, which is building up its military power on the Ukrainian border.”
The financial contributions, as well as the non-lethal assistance provided earlier, represent Canada’s “significant and coordinated response to the evolving situation in Ukraine,” the Canadian Department of Defense added.
Earlier Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Canadian side would provide lethal weapons to Ukraine. He specified that in addition to $7.8 million worth of weapons and ammunition, Canada is going to allocate an additional $500 million to maintain the economic stability of Ukraine.
On February 4, Canada sent a transport aircraft with non-lethal weapons to Ukraine. Prior to that, on January 21, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Twitter that Canada had allocated $120 million to Ukraine as support.
The Russian side has repeatedly denied accusations of possible aggression and pointed out that the militarization of Ukraine leads to an aggravation in the Donbass. On January 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia was not going to start a war with Ukraine, and Western countries and the United States were “hysterically” developing the topic of a threat to Ukraine from the Russian Federation instead of forcing Ukraine to comply with the Minsk agreements.