Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets Tuesday in Ottawa with Ukraine’s prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
The two leaders will focus on Ukraine attempts to institute economic and government reforms.
Kyiv is expected to announce shortly that it will default on debts owed to private creditors.
The two leaders met in Kyiv last month just prior to the G-7 Summit when Mr. Yatsenyuk asked Mr. Harper to press Western allies for lethal military aid to fight Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Over the weekend, a former high-ranking Canadian diplomat directed sharp criticism at Canada’s Ukraine policy.
Bob Fowler, who advised three prime ministers, said Mr. Harper’s governing Conservatives have pushed Canada’s involvement in Ukraine too far and have become a disruptive influence for NATO allies trying to keep the conflict in Ukraine from escalating.
Mr. Fowler cited last year’s decision to allow Canada’s embassy in Kyiv to become a sanctuary for anti-government protesters. He said providing the sanctuary
gave the appearance that Canada was an active participant in regime change.
A release from the Prime Minister’s Office says the Mr. Harper and Mr. Yatsenyuk will also seek ways to broaden the scope of relations between the two countries.
Canada is home to more than 1.2 million Ukrainian-Canadians. That’s the world’s third-largest Ukrainian population behind Ukraine and Russia.
Some critics say Mr. Harper’s policies are focused too much on winning votes in this fall’s general election and not enough on finding a solution to the dispute.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.