Zelenskyy meets Canadian PM Carney ahead of US peace talks

On December 27, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a stopover in Halifax, Canada, ahead of his scheduled talks with U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Under President Zelenskyy's leadership, we have the conditions, the possibility of a just and lasting peace,” Carney told reporters before he and Zelenskyy began their bilateral meeting, a Canadian outlet reports.

The Prime Minister announced an additional $2.5 billion in economic aid for Ukraine. According to a news release from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), approximately $1.6 billion of the new aid will take the form of loan guarantees to the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The remaining aid includes financing to allow the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide additional loans to Ukraine. Canada will also participate in an “extended and expanded debt service suspension for Ukraine,” the PMO said.

Zelenskyy’s visit follows a phone conversation with Carney on December 26. During the Halifax meeting, the Ukrainian president briefed the Canadian leader on the status of diplomatic efforts with the United States to bring the conflict to an end following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Zelenskyy is expected to discuss a 20-point peace plan with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 28.

By Khagan Isayev