Canadians must confront ‘very high’ cost of conflict with Russia: UN ambassador

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is now in its second month, but has appeared to stall in many areas as Ukrainian defenders mount a fierce and determined resistance.

The cost of conflict with Russia will inevitably be “very high” as the world becomes more dangerous, says Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations.

In an interview with The West Block‘s guest host Eric Stephenson, Bob Rae said rising defence spending and other costs will be something Canadians need to confront amid the continued global dangers in the wake of Russia’s violent and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

“I think that’s an inevitability given the the nature of some of the crises that we’re facing around the world, and that’s something we have to face up to as Canadians,” he said.

“It’s going to be more expensive for us living in the world than it was before, because the cost of conflict is very high. And we’re not living in an easy world at the moment,” Rae added.

“The world is a difficult place right now.“

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now in its second month, but has appeared to stall in many areas as Ukrainian defenders mount a fierce resistance that has been praised around the world.

But the slow advance by Russia has sparked fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin may turn to even more violent methods, including chemical, biological or nuclear attacks, to gain momentum.

Over recent weeks, the savagery of Russian attacks targeting civilians has grown and Ukrainian officials have alleged that attacking troops used white phosphorous munitions — a banned chemical weapon.