Stephen Harper has harsh words for Putin during historic visit to Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine — Before solemnly laying a bouquet of red carnations metres from where many Ukrainians died last month during bloody fighting with security forces near the capital’s iconic Independence Square, Stephen Harper announced Saturday that the first security monitors from Canada would arrive in Ukraine on Sunday.
There had been “dark days” in Ukraine after Russia seized Crimea and the country “now faced an even greater test,” Harper said during a joint news conference with Ukraine’s acting Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, alluding to Russia’s military invasion of Crimea and hints that it may be thinking to do the same in eastern Ukraine.
“It is for Ukrainians and Ukrainians only to decide their future. In this principle we will not waver,” said the Canadian PM.
There would be “no return to business as usual with Putin until such time as the occupation ends,” he added.