Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Listen to this article
About 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Pronunciation errors may occur. We work with our partners to continually review and improve results.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax on Saturday during a stopover before heading to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump for talks aimed at ending the Russo-Ukrainian war.
“Under the leadership of President Zelensky, we have the conditions and the possibility for a just and lasting peace,” Carney told reporters before leaving for their bilateral meeting.
The Prime Minister also announced an additional $2.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine.
According to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office, approximately $1.6 billion of the newly announced aid comes in the form of loan guarantees to the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The rest of the aid includes funding that will allow the International Monetary Fund to lend more money to Ukraine, and Canada will participate in an “extended and expanded debt service suspension of Ukraine,” the Prime Minister’s Office news release said.
Zelensky’s Canadian visit comes after he spoke by phone with Carney on Friday. The Prime Minister’s Office issued a notice Saturday morning confirming the meeting, which began around 1 p.m. (DT).
The warlord said in a statement that he briefed the prime minister “on the status of our diplomatic efforts with the United States” to end the war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
Zelensky is expected to discuss a 20-point peace plan with Trump, likely on Sunday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
WATCH | Consensus reached between the United States and Ukraine on the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country and the United States had reached consensus on several crucial issues aimed at ending the conflict with Russia – but sensitivities around territorial control in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland and management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain unresolved.
“In the coming days, much can be accomplished bilaterally between Ukraine and the United States, as well as with our coalition of willing partners,” Zelensky said, referring to Ukraine’s group of 35 friendly countries, including Canada.
“It is essential that we together and constructively strengthen Ukraine’s ability to protect life, strengthen our front-line positions and increase the efficiency of the negotiating process. Right now, it is Russia that is dragging its feet and trying to waste time.”
According to a readout of the call from the Prime Minister’s Office, Carney praised Zelensky for his “continued efforts to secure a just and lasting peace for the Ukrainian people, as well as for the courage of the Ukrainian people as they face another winter of Russian aggression.”
“The Prime Minister affirmed Canada’s commitment to Ukraine throughout these negotiations and emphasized the need to maintain pressure on Russia to negotiate,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Friday.
Security guarantees on the agenda with Trump
Zelensky told reporters in kyiv that he and Trump would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks.
An “economic deal” will also be discussed, Zelensky said, adding that he could not confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”
The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said.
Moscow insisted that Ukraine give up the remaining territory it still holds in Donbass – an ultimatum that Ukraine rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and around 70% of Donetsk – the two regions that make up Donbass.
Earlier this week, Zelensky said he would be willing to withdraw his troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, but only if Russia also withdrew and the area became a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
WATCH | The 20-point peace plan presented by Zelensky:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a 20-point peace plan that Ukrainian and American negotiators recently developed. Zelensky admitted that he would be willing to make the Donetsk region a free, demilitarized economic zone, monitored by international forces.
Zelensky said Friday that a possible deal between the United States and Ukraine was “90 percent ready,” acknowledging that territorial issues were the main sticking point in those peace talks.
“Our goal is to bring everything to 100 percent,” he said. “It’s not easy.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin has been in contact with U.S. officials since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.
“It was agreed to continue the dialogue,” Peskov said.
