Thank you very much.
For example, the Baltic states, including Latvia, became NATO members, whereas others, such as Ukraine, remained active partners of the alliance as PfP partners.
The dramatic events of 2014 in Ukraine over the issue of greater integration with the European Union and NATO led to active military confrontation with eastern Ukrainian rebels, supported by Russia, as well as the Russian seizure and annexation of Crimea. NATO's military response was twofold: one, to strengthen and reaffirm its article 5 commitment to defend NATO allies through a posture of enhanced deterrence while keeping open the option of dialogue with Russia; and two, to significantly increase NATO training and reform and capacity-building efforts with the Ukrainian armed forces. The Canadian response was in keeping with its traditional foreign and defence interests and effective participation as a firm NATO ally. Both the Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau governments built on the precedents of previous commitments. The Canadian Armed Forces have, therefore, returned to Europe under Operation Reassurance and deployed to Latvia with 450 personnel, where they are the lead nation for the battle group forming a key part of NATO's enhanced deterrence effort.
In Ukraine, the MTCP's capacity-building efforts have been dramatically increased with the deployment of 200 personnel under Operation Unifier. The Canadian Armed Forces' active participation and leading role on NATO's eastern flank continue to serve and promote Canada's interest in achieving greater security in Europe. The efforts in Latvia and Ukraine should be matched now by active diplomacy to achieve an eventual understanding with Russia and return to future co-operation rather than confrontation. In recent weeks, for example, there has been an increased discussion on potential avenues to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict in the Ukraine.
While the Minsk II process agreed to in early 2015 forms the basis of such diplomacy, the framework itself remains moribund. The fundamental stumbling block for Ukraine is the provision for constitutional reform in Ukraine, essentially decentralizing control of the Donetsk and the Luhansk Oblasts. For Russia, it is the restoration of control of the state border to the Ukrainian government in the whole conflict zone.
To assist the process of conflict resolution, two diversion proposals for UN peacekeeping have been under discussion. In the Russian version, there is the provision for Russian troops being part of the force, similar to the pattern Russia brokered in the post-Soviet conflicts in Moldova and Georgia, essentially trilateral forces, of which the Russians are one of the three. The Ukrainian version is the more traditional UN formula of a force consisting of troops drawn from neutral countries. The two proposals also differ in the areas of the deployment of the force itself. President Poroshenko has asked Canada to consider playing a role in such a force, and the Canadian government is giving due consideration.
These are early days in this discussion, but it offers Canada an opportunity to use its vast peacekeeping experience to play a useful and objective role in conflict resolution.
Thank you for your kind attention.