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Russia-Canada ties may change once special operation’s aims attained, says ambassador

Oleg Stepanov stated that the current ties between Moscow and Ottawa are in a "deplorable state"
Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov Russian Embassy in Canada
Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov
© Russian Embassy in Canada

OTTAWA, February 1. /TASS/. A change in the current status of Russian-Canadian relations may occur after all the goals of the special military operation in Ukraine are achieved, Russian Ambassador to Ottawa Oleg Stepanov said in a conversation with a TASS correspondent on Tuesday.

"My personal conviction is that if something changes in our relations then only after the situation on the ground changes as a result of our military operation [in Ukraine], when our military operation reaches its goals, then the Canadian political establishment apparently will try to find a new balance of interests with Russia, but no sooner than Washington," he said. "So in the short-term and mid-term perspective we are bracing for rather difficult relations with official Ottawa regardless of which [political] party is in power," the diplomat explained.

He stated that the current ties between Moscow and Ottawa are in a "deplorable state" and "the near-sighted policy of the current liberal cabinet of [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau is to blame." The envoy added that the Canadian government and its foreign policy are held "hostage to domestic interests" related to the sizable and influential Ukrainian diaspora and lobby. According to him, in Canada, with the population of 38 mln people, the Ukrainian diaspora is estimated as 1.5-2.5 mln residents "the majority of whom have highly Russophobic views."

Relations at rock bottom, but connection remains

The Russian ambassador said that following the onset of the special military operation, Ottawa "in the form of an order" pointed to the necessity for the regions to curtail practically any interaction with Russia on any matter whatsoever. "There are bans everywhere, either open or implicit," he said. "Trudeau’s cabinet even destroyed interaction on the Arctic, either bilateral or within the framework of the Arctic Council which always, no matter what, had been outside of the framework of the transitory political situation," the diplomat stressed, adding that "this also concerns sports ties which have usually served as the firm foundation of our bilateral relations."

Nevertheless, Stepanov noted that "the only thinly connecting thread that still remains is [interaction] along the lines of indigenous peoples." According to him, following the onset of the special military operation, members of Canada’s indigenous population were also "strongly cautioned" against interacting with Russia "but the last signal was that in the end, local community activists among indigenous residents want to somehow retain these depoliticized ties, and we can only welcome this.".