Ukraine will update its Free Trade Agreement with Canada, deepen military cooperation and attract Canadian private investment for post-war reconstruction. This was announced by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal during a joint briefing with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.

Denys Shmyhal thanked the Government and people of Canada for their support, noting that Canada was one of Ukraine’s top five partners in terms of military and financial assistance.

The Prime Minister said that Ukraine and Canada had signed a joint declaration on the conclusion of negotiations to update the Free Trade Agreement.

“In particular, 18 chapters have been agreed, 9 of which are completely new. They relate to trade in services, financial and telecommunications services, investment, trade, gender equality, indigenous peoples, good regulatory practice, development and administration of measures, small and medium-sized enterprises. We expect that the updated Agreement will help increase bilateral trade and open up new economic opportunities for our businesses,” said Denys Shmyhal.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine also stressed the importance of continued military assistance from Canada and thanked the Government of Canada for joining the “tank coalition”.

Denys Shmyhal called on the Canadian business community to get involved in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. In particular, in the areas of housing and transport, energy, demining and agriculture: “In this regard, we look forward to the Canadian Government’s decision to use financial instruments to stimulate the activities of Canadian companies in Ukraine.”

The Head of Ukrainian Government also expressed hope that the process of confiscating russian assets in Canada would be launched as soon as possible.

“I hope that thanks to the laws adopted last year, more and more russian assets in Canada will be confiscated and transferred to the reconstruction of destroyed cities and homes in Ukraine. It is the sovereign russian funds frozen in the West and the assets of russian oligarchs that should form the basis for rebuilding Ukraine. russia must be held accountable and pay for what it has destroyed. That is what is right and fair,” Denys Shmyhal said.

For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed that Canada would support Ukraine for as long as it takes. He announced a new package of military aid, including 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns, and more than 2.4 million rounds of ammunition.

Justin Trudeau also announced that Canada was imposing new sanctions on russia and belarus. The sanctions will target 14 individuals and 34 legal entities from russia, as well as nine companies linked to the financial sector of belarus.