Russia-Ukraine war 'will be settled at the negotiation table' eventually, but decades of support ahead: Joly

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says the war in Ukraine will eventually end through diplomacy, but that Canada’s support of the country will continue in the long term, to help prevent future conflict.

As the war approaches the 18-month mark, Joly told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday that the long-term support of Ukraine by Canada and other NATO allies is critical to deterring Russia, which Joly says will remain “a very dangerous neighbour” even after the war.

“I think it's important that we talk about the long-term security assurances that we can give to Ukraine,” she said. “At one point, the war will be settled at the negotiation table, like it is the case in every single war.”

“We need to make sure that Ukraine is strong at the negotiation table,” she added. “That's why we are supporting the counteroffensive as we speak.”

Joly said it’s important to set up mechanisms so Russia does not “leave the country, rearm and reinvade” Ukraine in the future.

“At the end of the day, we want to be able to provide a form of stability, predictability, to what is being done by different countries,” she said. “Because even when the war ends, and basically Ukraine wins, I think that in order for reconstruction to happen, we need to be able to provide these formal assurances.”

Joly added it’s a subject she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have raised with allies.

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NATO members meanwhile are set to meet for their next summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July, with a focus on the war in Ukraine.

Canada has long faced calls to increase its defence spending commitments to reach two per cent of GDP — the agreed-upon goal as part of the Wales Summit Declaration in 2014 — but the Washington Post reported in April that Trudeau privately told NATO Canada will never meet the target.

With that 10-year commitment set to expire next year, renegotiations of the spending target are also on the agenda when NATO meets next month, and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has signalled the two per cent target will become the floor, as opposed to a ceiling, adding pressure on Canada to commit more funds.

When asked whether failing to hit the two per cent target impedes Canada’s ability to drive home the need for long-term investments in Ukraine, Joly said despite the spending goal, Canada is among the countries that has spent the most per capita to support the war-torn country.

“I think that we need to provide some assurances, and we need to make sure that other countries do so, because in the end, we need to make sure that what we're doing now has an impact on the long run,” she said.

And when pressed on whether she thinks the government has the public will for such spending, potentially over decades to come, Joly said she thinks Canadians in general “know that what we're doing in Ukraine is fundamental to our own security, because Ukraine’s security is Europe's security … it is the world’s security.”