Ukraine’s foreign minister to Canadian voters: The best thing you can do is to support Ukraine

Ukraine’s foreign minister says the “best thing” Canadian voters can do is push for more support for his country, as the two-year anniversary since Russia invaded approaches.

Dmytro Kuleba told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an exclusive interview airing Sunday, the war in Ukraine is about the “future of a sovereign nation” and “the future of global order.”

“You have your own domestic politics, you have your own domestic fights,” Kuleba said, in response to a question about his level of concern over Canadian Conservative MPs voting against an updated free-trade deal between Canada and Ukraine.

“This is your business, but I want to tell something to the voters of Canada, who vote either for one party or another party,” he added. “The best thing you can do is to support Ukraine.”

He also told Kapelos that Ukraine doesn’t “have the luxury to be worried” about the domestic politics of other countries.

“We’re not in the peacetime politics, when politicians can pick an issue and play with it,” he said. “We’re not playing with it because this situation here in Ukraine is about human lives.”

Kuleba’s interview comes on the heels of a deal among European Union member countries to provide Ukraine with a new 50-billion-euro (C$81 billion) aid package.

He said that while the U.S. Congress remains at a standstill over whether to approve more aid money for Ukraine, he hopes American lawmakers will follow the EU’s lead and increase their support.

“So hopefully, this morning, people in Washington will wake up and read the news from Europe,” Kuleba said. “And the decision by the EU will have a positive impact on the dynamics of discussions in the U.S. Congress.”

When asked how likely he thinks that is, Kuleba said he wouldn’t speculate.

“Well I’m not a master of tarot cards. I do not make guesses,” Kuleba said. “I work every day hard to make things happen.”

“People were casting doubt about the prospects of the decision that was made today,” he added. “People are casting doubts about the decision that the Congress is expected to make, but we just keep working on making it happen.”

Kuleba also said the Ukrainian government will work with whoever wins the upcoming U.S. election, despite former president and Republican front-runner Donald Trump opposing a new aid deal.

The foreign minister said Ukraine respects the sovereign choice of American voters, and repeated that his war-torn country doesn’t have “the luxury” of worrying about other countries’ domestic decisions.

“We just can’t afford that,” he said. “We’re fighting a war.”

You can watch a portion of Kuleba’s interview, which aired on CTV News Channel’s Power Play, in the video player above.

CTV’s Question Period airs Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.