Russia & Ukraine: 1)Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada to build forces to support peace in UkrainE; 2)Carney travelling to Paris for meetings with Ukraine’s allies [“The coalition of the willing”]

1)Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada to build forces to support peace in Ukraine

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Craig Lord, Jan. 6, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will continue to build up its military might in the coming years, in part so it’s able to play a role in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.

Carney is in Paris meeting with Ukraine’s allies to discuss the role Canada might play in securing an eventual ceasefire in the war with Russia.

At a news conference at the Canadian Embassy on Tuesday, Carney said the negotiations on peace and security guarantees for Ukraine are “90 per cent of the way there,” according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is also in Paris.

Carney said the remaining parts of a potential peace deal will need to be negotiated by Ukraine, Russia and the United States.

The prime minister said Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East and peace missions, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser will be attending.

A senior government official briefing reporters on the plane to Paris said Canada has been in talks for months about making an “appropriate and serious contribution” to Ukrainian security guarantees, and Ottawa’s recent push to ramp up defence spending has set the country up to play a bigger role in transatlantic security.

“We’ve been building that bench, and we’re going to continue to build that bench,” Carney told reporters Tuesday.

“The largest military buildup in generations coming over the course of the next five years, an additional $80 billion of investment, in part because of issues like this.”

Speaking in French, Carney said sending Canadians troops to Ukraine was a “possibility.”

He said Canada would be part of a possible “multilateral force” of other Ukrainian allies with additional backstops from the Americans.

“That means that our contribution has a much bigger effect than obviously we would if we were on our own,” Carney said.

He said Canada’s contributions could start with continued training, as Canadian soldiers are currently training Ukrainian forces in Poland as part of Operation Unifier.

Other support could come in the form of logistics, cybersecurity aid and weapon production.

The “coalition of the willing,” a group of more than 30 countries pledged to support Ukraine, is gathering in Paris as ceasefire talks reach a critical juncture.

Carney said Gen. Jennie Carrigan, chief of Canada’s defence staff, has been in talks with her counterparts in the coalition for months to shape Ukraine security guarantees, and now the leaders are gathering to finalize those plans.

Carney is meeting with a number of world leaders, including Mark Rutte, secretary-general of NATO, and heads of state from Denmark and Finland.

2)Carney travelling to Paris for meetings with Ukraine’s allies [“The coalition of the willing”]

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, January 5, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney is travelling to Paris Monday to meet with Ukraine’s allies in a bid to end Russia’s war on the country.

The meeting of the “coalition of the willing,” made up of nations including Canada, France and other European countries, seeks to accelerate a negotiated peace plan for Ukraine nearly four years after Russia’s invasion.

In a media statement issued Friday, Carney said his focus remains on fortifying Ukraine and deterring future Russian aggression as Ukraine seeks security guarantees from the United States and other nations.

Carney’s office says Canada is working with coalition allies to boost Ukraine’s defence capabilities and support the nation’s long-term recovery, and seeks the return of Ukrainian children “unlawfully deported” during the war with Russia.

Canada, which has been among the largest contributors per capita to Ukraine’s recovery, announced $2.5 billion in financing and loan guarantees when Carney met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Halifax at the end of last month.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who hosted Zelenskyy a day later at his Mar-a-Lago resort, insisted that Ukraine and Russia were “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement, though he acknowledged that outstanding obstacles could prevent a deal.

Benjamin Zyla, a professor with the University of Ottawa’s international development and global studies department, said the peace plan currently on the table leaves key issues for Ukraine to ponder, including territorial integrity.

“That is for the Ukrainians to decide and the Canadian government has made this clear that it’s only for Ukrainians to decide,” Zyla said.

“The second major issue is the question of protecting the Ukrainian territory should Ukraine and Russia reach a peace agreement in the near future.”

He said an international peace force is vital to any agreement to protect Ukraine against further actions from Russia, but it wouldn’t be like peacekeeping missions of the past. Instead, Zyla said the force would need to operate more like an “enforcement mission” that upholds any signed agreement between the two countries.

The meeting comes days after the U.S. extracted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the country in a military operation that saw multiple explosions ring out as low-flying aircraft swept through the nation’s capital.

Zyla said talk of what happened in Venezuela will likely be a topic leaders discuss, including if that invasion will have any impact on reaching an agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

“It’s too early to tell what such an impact might be, even though most experts consider it a blatant breach of international law,” Zyla said.

Carney reacted on Saturday to Maduro’s ouster by noting that one of the first actions taken by his new government in March was to impose additional sanctions on his “brutally oppressive and criminal regime.”

In a statement posted to social media, Carney noted that Canada has not recognized “the illegitimate regime of Maduro since it stole the 2018 election.”

“The Canadian government therefore welcomes the opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace, and prosperity for the Venezuelan people,” Carney wrote.

Carney spoke with María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Sunday.

A readout of the call from the Prime Minister’s Office said that both condemned Maduro’s “brutally oppressive, criminal, and illegitimate regime” and Carney thanked Machado for being a “resolute” voice of the Venezuelan people.

Carney said that Canada supports a “peaceful, negotiated, and Venezuelan-led transition process” that focuses on the democratic will of the Venezuelan people, according to the readout.

The two agreed to stay in contact.