Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government are remaining tight-lipped about Canada sending heavy artillery to Ukraine, citing “operational security.”

Trudeau mentioned during a media availability on Tuesday that Canada would be sending heavy artillery to Ukraine, saying it was a direct request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He offered no further cost or specific equipment details at the time. When pressed again on Wednesday, the prime minister had little else to say.

“For reasons of operational security, I can't go into the details at this point on how and what we're getting to them exactly. But I can assure you we will have more to say in the coming days,” Trudeau told reporters.

He then said he hoped to share more about what “is being sent” and “what was sent” soon.

“I can reassure Canadians that we are directly responding to the top requests that the Ukrainians have given for assistance in this current phase of the war… and therefore there's very specific equipment that Ukrainians need and Canadians can be comfortable that their government is there to support Ukrainians with what they need.”

He also would not specify where the further military gear would be coming from, whether from an existing stockpile or as a result of a new procurement. Trudeau said that as Canada continues to aid Ukraine, ensuring the Canadian Armed Forces is adequately equipped is a consideration.

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko tweeted late Tuesday that “heavy weapons and military aid” were set to arrive that day from the U.S., Canada, and other allied countries.

Asked about this, Trudeau said in the context of the war, information around delivering military equipment is “something that we have to be a little bit careful about.”

In a later interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play, Vasylenko said she didn’t have any additional information to add from what was public, suggesting the information was confidential.

“But, I can tell you for sure that the list that Ukrainian government officials have been asking of many different governments and many different allied states to help Ukraine with, it’s a uniform list of the same kind of requests that have we have been putting in day in and day out,” she said.

The government has broadly promised to continue sending lethal and non-lethal aid, in addition to sending money and offering humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, including earmarking $500 million in the 2022 federal budget for further military aid. 

Defence Minister Anita Anand's office also declined to offer further detail on Wednesday, and instead pointed back to past military aid Canada has sent.

“More details will be available in the coming days. We have no further information to provide at the current time,” said Anand’s press secretary Daniel Minden in an email to CTV News.

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