In Ankara, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney.
The Head of State thanked Canada for its new $900 million support package at a particularly difficult time, when Ukraine is in urgent need of stronger air defense.
"Thank you for supporting the PURL initiative. Right now, perhaps our greatest shortage is air defense, and we have received a major package from Canada. We are deeply grateful for that," the President said.
"This is medium-term assistance. By medium term, I mean over the next few months. It includes military equipment, ammunition, and other support, in addition to this vital air defense assistance," Mark Carney said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that Canada will continue strengthening Ukraine's air defense and contributing to the PURL initiative. He condemned Russia's attacks on Ukraine that have claimed civilian lives. The leaders discussed additional steps that could further strengthen Ukraine's air defense.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the establishment of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank and thanked Canada for inviting Ukraine to become a founding member of this international financial institution. The Bank will work to attract capital, expand access to financing, develop defense industrial capacity, scale up and deploy technologies proven in real combat conditions, and deepen industrial partnerships among participating countries.
The leaders also paid special attention to preparations for a Drone Deal agreement between Canada and Ukraine.
In addition, the President and the Prime Minister discussed energy cooperation. Ukraine and Canada are currently working simultaneously on three projects, the details of which have not yet been disclosed. The relevant agreements will be signed in the near future. They also discussed possible areas of cooperation in the gas sector.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mark Carney exchanged details of their discussions with partners. They also discussed joint efforts to achieve peace. The leaders agreed on the next steps for continued contact.
