Russia faces severe sanctions if it advances further into Ukraine: Joly
Global News
Russia has positioned about 100,000 troops across Ukraine's borders, stoking fears across Europe of an invasion, but Russia has denied it intends to do that.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada will join allies in imposing severe sanctions on Russian officials if the country takes further military action to compromise Ukrainian sovereignty.
Russia has positioned about 100,000 troops across Ukraine’s borders along with tanks and other heavy artillery, stoking fears across Europe of an invasion, but Russia has denied it intends to do that.
Joly said Russia is already in Ukraine and that Canada and its European and NATO allies will not stand for further provocations – a reference to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its fomenting of Russian separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern region.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine but that he will pay a “dear price” for that.
Joly was speaking in Brussels Thursday with her European Union counterpart Josep Borrell, where she is wrapping her three-country tour that has included stops in Ukraine and France. She will also meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg later on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Russia accused the West on Thursday of plotting “provocations” in Ukraine even as it blames Moscow of planning aggressive military action in the neighboring country.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that Ukrainian and Western claims of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine were a “cover for staging large-scale provocations of their own, including those of military character.”
“They may have extremely tragic consequences for the regional and global security,” Zakharova said.
