Baird rules out military intervention in Ukraine – Regina Leader
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is ruling out western military intervention to force Russia to pull its troops out of Ukraine.
But he’s not ruling out further sanctions, including expelling Russia’s ambassador to Canada.
“I don’t think there’s anyone talking about western military intervention, none of our friends or allies,” Baird said Sunday in an interview with Global’s West Block.
“What we are doing is working together to say in no uncertain terms that this is completely unacceptable and to condemn (it) in the strongest language possible.”
On Saturday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called on Russia to “immediately” withdraw its military forces in Ukraine back to their bases and said Canada has taken diplomatic steps to punish the Russians for their actions.
Th e messag e came through a statement issued by his office Saturday evening after Harper gathered some “key” members of his cabinet to discuss the quickly escalating crisis in Ukraine.
The statement said Canada joins its allies in “condemning in the strongest terms” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military intervention in Ukraine.
“These actions are a clear violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Harper. Baird’s own language was harsh. He called the invasion of Russian troops “old Soviet-style” aggression and dismissed Russian arguments that it needs to protect its Black Sea naval fleet, which is based in Sevastopol on Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, and the Russianspeaking population in that region.
“There is absolutely no justification whatsoever,” Baird said.
“The claims that President Putin puts forward are absurd and ridiculous. He has no right to invade another country, a neighbouring country that’s struggling for freedom and democracy.”
“The excuses and the rhetoric that’s coming out of Moscow are unacceptable. No one is buying them in the western world and they make President Putin look ridiculous.”
Harper announced Saturday that Canada has suspended its involvement in preparations for the annual G8 Summit, which is being hosted this year in June by Russia in Sochi, site of the recent Winter Olympics.
As well, the Canadian ambassador in Moscow is being recalled for consultations.
Furthermore, to keep an eye on developments in Ukraine, Harper said Canada supports the “immediate deployment” of international monitors from the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the country.
“We are also engaged in discussions aimed at developing a financial aid package for Ukraine,” said the prime minister. Harper spoke Saturday with U.S. President Barack Obama and agreed on a united front against Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Baird was returning Saturday from Kyiv, where he led a Canadian government delegation to show support for Ukraine’s new pro-western government. In his absence, he said his deputy minister called in Russia’s ambassador to Canada, Georgiy Mamedov, and reamed him out “in the strongest terms certainly in my time at Foreign Affairs.”
He did not rule out expelling the ambassador. “We’ll obviously be revisiting this on an hour by hour basis,” he said, adding that Canada wants to act “in unison” with its allies.