Canada offers air defense support for Ukraine as Zelenskyy visits

Canada offered support on Thursday to boost Ukraine’s air defenses and help replenish its drone stocks, as the countries pledged to deepen their alliance during a visit by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Canada PM Carney hosted the president of Ukraine in Calgary in the western province of Alberta, where the Canadian prime minister grew up among a large community of people with Ukrainian heritage. That deal, to be negotiated over the coming months, aims to codify cooperation in a range of areas, including defense, critical minerals and energy.

Carney said Canada was also offering C$450m in loan guarantees to enhance the Ukrainian energy supply, which will help repair damaged infrastructure, increase storage capacity and improve power supply to hospitals.

Zelenskyy told reporters that the drones will be helpful for Ukraine to survive the war. Asked about potential negotiations to ease the fighting, Zelenskyy said he did not anticipate any substantive talks during Russia’s ongoing election period, but has planned to meet Trump in New York City in late September, probably on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, with Washington bidding to revive long-stalled talks to end the war.