Canada 'ready and able' to join Ukraine peacekeeping force, defence minister says

Murray Brewster · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 1:25 PM EST | Last Updated: March 5

Canada is prepared to lend troops to Britain and France's "coalition of the willing" peacekeeping unit should determination beryllium a ceasefire successful Ukraine, Defence Minister Bill Blair said Wednesday. 

He made the remarks at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute yearly forum successful Ottawa. 

Following a play gathering of allies successful London, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada "was looking astatine the champion ways it tin help." He acknowledged that each options were connected the table.

Blair's remarks connected Wednesday went a measurement further, saying progressive discussions are underway.

"Canada is acceptable and capable to marque a publication to that force," Blair told reporters pursuing his speech. "But we besides judge that there's important discussions that request to instrumentality spot with respect to information guarantees for Ukraine and overseas forces that we're serving."

WATCH | Canada acceptable to articulation a 'coalition of the willing' for Ukraine, Blair says: 

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spearheaded the inaugural which is being enactment unneurotic pursuing the disastrous, televised falling retired successful the Oval Office betwixt U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Led by the U.K. and France, the peacekeeping unit could spot a fig of European countries enactment boots connected the crushed successful eastbound Ukraine should determination beryllium a ceasefire or bid settlement. The thought would beryllium that the beingness of Western troops would deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from re-arming and past attempting to conquer each of Ukraine.

The force, however, would person to beryllium backed with information guarantees, astir notably from the Americans. The lack of specified guarantees successful a mineral assets woody betwixt the U.S. and Ukraine contributed to the nationalist statement betwixt Trump and Zelenskyy.

Starmer has said the U.K., France and Ukraine are moving connected a bid woody that could beryllium presented to Washington.

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance dismissed the effort and said an American stake successful Ukraine's system was a "better information warrant than 20,000 troops from immoderate random state that hasn't fought a warfare successful 30 oregon 40 years."

The remark sparked outrage successful the U.K. and among U.S. Democrats. Among different things, Vance's remarks disregard the information that Canadian, British and French forces fought alongside Americans successful Afghanistan. Britain besides joined the U.S. successful the penetration of Iraq.

The "coalition of the willing" attack would let the countries — each NATO members — to enactment successful a radical but not nether the Western subject alliance's umbrella. That would get astir the governmental disagreements astatine NATO wherever Hungary and Slovakia person some taken pro-Russian positions and created obstacles for allied consensus.

Thus far, Russia has rejected the thought of a peacekeeping unit — NATO, European Union oregon otherwise.

The Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia on with Finland — person expressed quiescent involvement successful joining Britain, France and Canada. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quoted precocious arsenic saying helium is unfastened to the thought of contributing peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.