The NATO Summit in Wales concluded on September 5, 2014 and there was much talk about the war in Ukraine. Among the measures, which were taken, was the creation of a €15 million trust fund for Ukraine’s military needs (logistics, command and control, cyber defence and medical aid). After the summit, the U.S. pledged $60M million in assistance with nonlethal weapons to Ukraine. This assistance is all Ukraine has received from NATO members so far, which seems quite small given Ukraine’s vast needs during the very intense war in the Donbas and the fact that, according to numerous reports, Ukraine’s ammunition and equipment stocks are being depleted. Yuri Lutsenko, an advisor to the President of Ukraine, recently said that, at the NATO summit, Ukraine has secured weapons supplies and military advisors from the U.S., France, Italy, Poland and Norway. However, Norway and the U.S. have stated that they would not be sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, while Poland and Italy have confirmed that there might be some weapons supplies.
Many observers have linked the West's indecisiveness in terms of military help to Ukraine with a somewhat unclear stance of Ukraine's President Poroshenko during the NATO summit. Ukraine still does not call the war a war and still resorts to the Anti-Terrorist Operation term. The President has not initiated a State of Emergency and a complete mobilization of troops. This policy is related to the parliamentary elections due to take place on October 26, which would be imposible during a State of Emergency. Whatever the importance of a State of Emergency, the elections are vital for Ukraine's political and economic progress as they could rid the parliament of Russia-backed members. At the same time, it is unclear whether the currently occupied territories would be able to participate in the elections and, if so, would the current separatist organizations be able to participate in them too. In which case, the elections would, at least to some extent, lose their mission to imrove the political scene.
On the background of such a hectic situation, it is nevertheless believed that the West is not doing enough to help Ukraine and revert the geopolitical situation to its status quo. There has also been much talk about Canada's military help to Ukraine. Canada’s share in the NATO's trust fund is probably less than $5m and the fate of further Canadian military help to Ukraine is so far unclear.
In his interview for the New Pathway, Dr. Taras Kuzio of Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, expressed an opinion that Canada could have lobbied for a bigger NATO trust fund and could have provided more, especially in terms of assault weapons. This concern is shared by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). The list of requirements to support Ukraine, which the UCC has sent to the government, contains anti-tank systems, air defence, surveillance devices, mine clearance devices and medical aid. Among these priorities, the UCC has also asked for military trainers. Incidentally, Prime Minister Harper announced that Canada will be sending several security experts from the Canadian Armed Forces to Iraq to provide “strategic and tactical counsel to Iraqi forces before they start tactical operations”. This is what Ukraine needs too and Ukrainians in the Diaspora are realizing the need to be more vocal about that in order for the Canadian government to hear their pleas.
In the interview, Dr. Kuzio also called for a stronger action on the part of the Ukrainian Canadians to lobby the Canadian government to do more. He provided the example of the Croatian Diaspora which gave, according to his information, $52 million to Croatia during the Yugoslav War of the early 1990s. There are similarities and differences between the two situations. During a panel discussion on TVO on September 4, 2014, Lucan Way of the University of Toronto, stated that the two situations are not directly comparable. The war in Croatia lasted longer (from 1991-1995) and caused about 15,000 casualties, compared to less than a year and about 3,000 deaths in the Donbas. One also has to take into account that Croatia was in a much worse condition militarily at that time and its needs were much greater than Ukraine's current needs.
As a quantification of the Diaspora's help to Ukraine, UCC's President Paul Grod, in an interview with HromadskeTV last week, indicated that Ukrainian Canadians alone have donated more than $2 million to Ukraine during this war. Still, as Dr. Kuzio pointed out, more than 1.2 million Ukrainian Canadians should generate more than $2 million to help Ukraine.
In his recent interview for KontaktTV, Paul Grod, who came back from the Ukrainian World Congress (SKU) annual general meeting in Kyiv, stated that the global Ukrainian Diaspora is trying to do more. During the meeting in Kyiv, SKU met with the Prime Minister and signed a Memorandum of Cooperation that would encourage “active work in supporting the Ukrainian government since the ties with this current government are as important, if not more so, than when Ukraine first became independent.” Mr. Grod did indicate that the Ukrainian government “is very concerned about the lack of support for their country from the global community – the lack of serious sanctions, the lack of military support and that Putin has not been stopped.”
Paul Grod admits that while talking to the military attaché of Canada in Ukraine, he did get the impression that “a political solution to military aid for Ukraine has not been discussed fully.” That is why the work of organizations like the SKU is important as they are working with the Ukrainian government in the international arena: “whether it is in NATO or the UN. We are coordinating what is important for the current Ukrainian government because we currently have very good ties with them and secondly, as a world Diaspora, in every country that Ukraine needs support from, we are organizing manifestations and lobbying governments. We are currently working, as the SKU, in NATO member countries to give more support to Ukraine.”
Along with monetary help, Ukrainians in the Diaspora have helped save lives in Ukraine. Paul Grod gave the example of the “Patriot Defence” initiative within which Individual First Aid Kits (IFAK)’s are being given out to soldiers at the front. “If a bullet hits a soldier, these will save their lives by primarily stopping the bleeding. We don’t only buy and give these out, but Dr. Ulana Suprun from the USA, who is the Director of Humanitarian Aid of the SKU and her husband Marko Suprun from Canada also provide medical training. The SKU initiative has trained about 3,500 soldiers and we have plans to train another 5,000: how to use it and how to properly act during the battle at the front so further casualties can be avoided.” Paul Grod says, Canada enjoys a good direction and distribution of donations managed by the UCC: “we have an active connection with Ukraine…there are people who have now figured out how to give money for the military and for medical aid. All of this has been worked out and we are working hard to get the money to the right places where it will matter.”
Both Dr. Kuzio and Paul Grod agree that Ukrainians in Canada can do more. The Diaspora has to continue calling and writing their MP’s about Ukraine (especially if the current cease-fire plan does not last long). The UCC is further lobbying the Prime Minister of Canada (who will attend a fundraiser for Ukraine on September 11, 2014, hosted by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation) for more support. Paul Grod has asked the Prime Minister to request his fellow heads of state for three things for Ukraine: “Ukraine needs humanitarian and military aid – we need to cross that line. Secondly, we need sectoral sanctions against Russia (its military, energy and financial sectors) and thirdly, we need to isolate Putin since he is genuinely the world’s enemy.”
Share on Social Media
