Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Christiaan Freeland has warned that sanctions imposed on Russia in support of Ukraine could affect the Canadian economy.
Read more: Live | Day 6 of the Russian offensive
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“There may be co-damage in Canada,” Ms Freeland said. To be truly effective, to make an impact, we must be prepared to face some adverse effects on our own economy.
The fall in the Russian currency ruble is already rocking international markets, and the explosion in oil prices is pushing up the prices of all consumer goods.
But the finance ministers of the G7 countries will not stand by. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Myre said they were ready to “cause the collapse of the Russian economy” to stop Vladimir Putin.
Minister Freeland has signaled that additional sanctions against Russia are in place and will be announced soon.
Alberta is particularly vulnerable to sanctions against Moscow and Vladimir Putin’s entourage.
Alberta Investment Management Corporation, a corporate investor who manages a number of public funds and pension schemes, holds $ 159 million in direct and indirect investments in Russia.
In addition, two powerful Russian oligarchs, Roman Abramovich and Igor Makarov, are interested in the provincial oil and gas sector.
These two billionaires close to Putin are not on the list of 58 Russian individuals and companies approved by Ottawa. But Ms Freeland did not rule out expanding the list.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenny has already called on Ottawa to go further with its restrictions in the name of human rights.
In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky warned that Russian troops would be on NATO’s doorstep if his country fell. That’s why Minister Freeland maintains that “everything is on the table”.
“We have to be prepared to do the hard, the expensive things to avoid something that is very harmful to Canada,” he said.
“If Russia wins (in occupying Ukraine), we will get a very different world from the one we know, which will be a dangerous world for Canada,” he told reporters when asked if Ottawa was ready to go to war against Moscow. .
On the military front, Defense Minister Anita Anand is still rejecting the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone in Ukraine, as requested by the Ukrainian president.
“It will be a drastic expansion by NATO and it is not on the table now,” Anand said, as such a move would shoot down NATO aircraft to prevent Russian aircraft from flying. Bombing Ukrainian civilians is tantamount to going to war.
“This is not about dragging NATO countries into war. The truth is, everyone rushed to war, not by Ukraine, but by Russia,” President Zhelenzky told Reuters.
