Canada's Participation in Foreign Intervention in Ukraine and NATO Aim of Encircling Russia



As part of attempts by the U.S. and NATO to encircle and isolate Russia, Canada is providing training to the armed forces aligned with the coup regime in Kiev. Recent statements from the Harper government claim that training is only being considered but has not yet been approved, when in fact it has been taking place for months. Deploying even more troops for purposes of "training" is now being considered, despite the fact that this would violate the February 15 peace agreement. All of this is justified in the name of defending Ukrainians from a non-existent Russian invasion.

"Training" Missions

A December 8 item in the Globe and Mail reported that Canada was the first member of NATO to publicly send soldiers to "help train" Ukraine's military. Then-Minister of Defence Rob Nicholson was in Kiev at the time to announce that Canadian soldiers had begun arriving to train Ukraine's military police and to sign a declaration of intent with his Ukrainian counterpart that said in part:

"Canada and Ukraine are committed to continue working together to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian government and its security forces to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity and its people."

"We declare our intent to continue working together to explore ways in which to build upon these gains, particularly as concerns defence capacity-building through the provision of general support training such as military police, medical and personal protective measures."

Then on February 11 the Harper government said it would step up its military aid, including through training, as if training were not already taking place. Minister of Defence Jason Kenney stated on CBC's Power and Politics : "If there's a consensus that we could play a role in terms of training, we would be open to doing so." He said a decision had not yet been taken.

The same day, the commander of the U.S. Army Europe, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, said that in March a battalion of 800 U.S. soldiers would begin training three battalions of Ukrainians from the Interior Ministry in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, "to teach the Ukrainians how to better defend themselves against "Russian and rebel artillery and rockets."

The new peace agreement, in effect since February 15, stipulates that foreign troops must be removed from Ukraine. Despite this the UK announced on February 24 that it would be sending 75 troops to Ukraine as part of a training mission, for up to six months, according to the Guardian . The next day, Foreign Minister Jason Kenney said that the Harper government is considering joining in. Canada's possible participation would allegedly put an emphasis on combat medical evacuation and trauma care. "That's the kind of technical training that we can offer," he said. "We are in discussions and looking at options, and we're open to -- as I've been saying for two weeks now -- open to participating in training missions." Kenney would not rule out combat training. He would only say that he could not "be more specific at this point" and that "We're exploring options actively about assisting Ukrainians with military training ... I would say, stay tuned." Previously, Canadian troops sent to Iraq last year to provide training were ultimately involved in combat.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, in announcing the deployment of British troops to Ukraine, claimed that this would be "to help Ukraine forces stave off further Russian backed incursions into its sovereign territory." In other words, the UK mission will violate the peace agreement to ensure that Russia does not violate it. Furthermore, the only body tasked with verifying the compliance of parties to the agreement is the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), not the British military.

Canada's Involvement in Providing Military Intelligence

In related news, the Globe and Mail reported on February 12 that the Harper government is negotiating with the coup regime to provide the Ukrainian military high-resolution images from Canada's RADARSAT-2 satellite twice per day. "RADARSAT-2, a satellite launched in 2007, is operated by Richmond, BC's MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates for the Canadian government and is used for everything from coastal surveillance by the military to mapping and keeping track of sea ice, crops, pollution and ships," the Globe informs. It adds, "The Canadian government will stipulate in the agreement that the satellite pictures should only be used to help Ukraine take defensive measures and not offensive operations such as targeting opposing forces."

"Defensive measures" presuppose there is an aggression against Ukraine or an invasion, neither of which is the case. If the surveillance is not needed for defence, then what is its purpose?

Canada has already contributed six fighter jets and a ship to NATO's "reassurance mission" in Eastern Europe.

More recently Canada has sent shiploads of military uniforms and other so-called non-lethal equipment to the Ukrainian military. As well, the Ukrainian government has repeatedly asked Ottawa to provide it with military hardware including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. Ukrainian Canadian Congress President Paul Grod recently told the Globe and Mail that multiple requests were sent to Canada's Department of National Defence through the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa during the past six months.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has posted the following backgrounder regarding Canada's involvement in the "NATO Reassurance Mission."

"Backgrounder -- Canadian Participation in NATO Reassurance Measures

"Russia's aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the continued importance of assuring the security of the alliance. As part of NATO's response to these developments, Canada has deployed Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) units and personnel to Central and Eastern Europe to show solidarity and reinforce the alliance's collective defence.

Reassurance Measures

- Canada has suspended all planned bilateral activities between the CAF and the Russian military.

- Canada has deployed six CF-18 fighter jets, along with 200 support staff, to Romania to train with NATO allies.

- Canada has sent 20 CAF operational planners to NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Casteau, Belgium, to reinforce planning functions and monitor events in the region.

- HMCS Regina has been retasked to join Standing NATO Maritime Group One in the Eastern Mediterranean.

- Members of the CAF participated in Operation Open Spirit in Latvia in May 2014, alongside military personnel from 13 other NATO and partner nations.

- In May 2014, 50 Canadian soldiers were deployed to Poland to conduct training in airborne operations and infantry skills alongside Polish and U.S. allies.

- In June 2014, a contingent of approximately 125 Canadian soldiers participated in Saber Strike 2014, a U.S.-led exercise in Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Lithuania."

Secret Shipment of Weapons

There are also indications that a clandestine program of weapons shipments to Ukraine is underway. "In a repeat of the Central Intelligence Agency's globe hopping weapons transport cargo planes of the Iran-Contra scandal era and the more recent Libyan rebel supply caper to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi, a Ukrainian Antonov AN-124 (tail number UR-82072) heavy lifter military transport plane, denoted as an International Cargo Transport' and belonging to the Antonov Transport Bureau,' astonished residents around Belgrade's Nikola Tesla International Airport in Serbia when it landed there on January 28, 2015. The Ukrainian plane, the world's largest aircraft, was a rare sight at an airport in a country that generally supports Russia in its conflict with Kiev," U.S. writer Wayne Madsen writes.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO military commander General Philip Breedlove, "are talking about commencing an arms shipment by NATO that actually began last year," Madsen says. His report continues:

"In September 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated that a number of NATO countries agreed to deliver weapons to Ukrainian forces, which consist not only of regular Ukrainian troops but irregular battalions supported by billionaire Ukrainian-Israeli warlord Ihor Kolomoisky consisting of neo-Nazis, U.S. and other private military forces, and ex-Israel Defence Forces personnel. At the time of the September 2014 NATO summit in Wales, Ukrainian presidential adviser Yuri Lutsenko said that the United States, France, Poland, Norway and Italy had agreed to supply weapons to Ukraine and Canada later revealed that it had also commenced weapons transfers to the Kiev putschists.

"Ukraine's military forces have received so much NATO military aid and assistance and personnel, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said[on January 26]that the Ukrainian Army is acting as NATO's foreign legion.' There are also credible reports that NATO has supplied the Kiev regime with deadly cluster bombs that are being used against the largely Russian-speaking civilian population of the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.

"The AN-124 that landed in Belgrade appears to have been ferrying weapons from a number of known NATO air terminals used for such purposes. After arriving in Bucharest, Romania on January 23, 2015 from the Italian island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Libya, the aircraft departed on January 23 for New Jersey in the United States. Lampedusa was a major staging base for NATO weapons supplies to Libyan rebels during the Western- and Islamist-inspired rebellion against the Qaddafi government. Bucharest has become a major base for NATO military support to Kiev."

Madsen enumerates the many places this massive military transport plane has appeared in the last year, including Calgary.

"In September 2014, the Ukrainian weapons hauler was spotted on a runway at Tbilisi International Airport in the Republic of Georgia. Not far from it was a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster cargo plane that was supposedly delivering weapons to Georgia. The close proximity of the Ukrainian weapons heavy lifter to the C-17 at Tbilisi airport coincided with the NATO Summit in Wales.

"There is little doubt that Breedlove, an unapologetic Cold Warrior, had previously authorized the transfer of NATO weapons to Ukraine via Tbilisi. Georgia and Ukraine have formed an aspirant NATO member alliance' against Russia on a front line extending from South Ossetia, through Abkhazia, through eastern Ukraine and Crimea, to the Transnistrian Republic north of Moldova. It is on this front line that NATO war planners now dream of directly confronting indigenous and Russian troops protecting the independence of the phalanx of states of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Donetsk, Lugansk, and Transnistria but also Russia's southern flank, including the Russian autonomous republic of Crimea and the Russian federal city of Sevastopol."

Ukraine Signs Arms Deal with United Arab Emirates

Despite its obligations under the recent ceasefire agreement and efforts by the other parties to the agreement to ensure that the ceasefire holds, Ukraine is continuing its efforts to acquire arms.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has reached an agreement on weapons supplies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), RT reported on February 24. The information comes from advisor to Ukrainian Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, who posted the following note on Facebook:

"It's worth emphasizing that unlike Europeans and Americans, the Arabs aren't afraid of Putin's threats of a third world war starting in case of arms and ammunition supplies to Ukraine." He also said he believed the UAE blamed Russia for the drop in oil prices. "So, this is going to be their little revenge," the advisor said. Gerashchenko said the types of weapons to be delivered and the volume of the supplies could not be disclosed. The deal was struck with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, RT reports.

The UAE supplying weapons to Ukraine could be part of a U.S. covert operation, former U.S. diplomat James Jatras told RT .

"This discussion in Washington about supplying weapons has been going on for some time. Usually that indicates that some kind of a covert program is already in operation and that we already are supplying some weapons directly," he said.

Jatras added that it is hard to believe that UAE would sell these weapons to Ukraine "without a green light from Washington."

"There is a lot of worry in Washington that our European satellites are slipping the leash and that this Minsk 2 agreement represents a possibility of a peace settlement that is really advantageous to the anti-Kiev forces in Lugansk and Donetsk. And one way to shake that up is to pour some weapons in there," Jatras said.

Commenting on Poroshenko's statement that the weapons are not intended for offensive use, Jatras said that "the notion that there are offensive and defensive weapons is really absurd here." Supplying the weapons is "clearly designed to give Kiev some kind of military option that Kiev does not currently have, and of course it has an offensive intent behind it," he added.

(Global Research, RT, Globe and Mail, Strategic Culture Foundation, CP, CBC News, Guardian)

(TML Weekly No. 9, February 28, 2015)