As Russia presses forward, Ukraine pleads with Canada for armour, air defence

A leading member of the Ukrainian parliament delivered stark warnings to Canadian politicians and top defence officials this week in a series of mostly under-the-radar meetings in Ottawa ahead of the long-anticipated aid vote in the U.S. Congress.

Oleksandra Ustinova, the head of Ukraine's special parliamentary commission on arms and munitions, told Defence Minister Bill Blair, members of key House of Commons committees and military leaders that both time and weapons stocks are running out for her country.

The holdup involving more than $60 billion in U.S. support for the embattled Eastern European country comes as Russian forces have made slow and steady gains on the battlefield and have pummeled Ukrainian cities in a series of missile and air strikes.

It's those existing capabilities and inventory, coupled with air defence, that Ustinova was interested in as she met with Canadian officials and toured Camp Petawawa, a major military base near Ottawa, earlier this week.

A Ukrainian serviceman with an anti-drone mobile air defence unit operates a Browning machine gun at his position in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine on March 28, 2024.

Speaking to CBC Radio's The House two weeks ago, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland chided the United States for being "unable to step up" on aid to Ukraine.