Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of mounting a “slow-motion” invasion of Ukraine as NATO’s supreme commander warned that the international community’s military posture needs to strike the balance between resolve and not appearing provocative.
Harper’s latest broadside against the Russian leader came Monday in Ottawa at the start of talks with U.S. Gen. Philip Breedlove, the western alliance’s operational commander in Europe.
“We are obviously concerned by the continuing escalation of violence in Ukraine, which to me very much appears to be clearly what I would call a slow-motion invasion on the part of the Putin regime,” Harper said as Breedlove nodded his agreement in the prime minister’s Langevin Block office.
Breedlove is embarking on two days of talks with Canadian political and military leaders just as heavy clashes erupt between Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s eastern region.
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/Getty ImagesRussia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, on May 5, 2014. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday Putin and OSCE head Didier Burkhalter are expected to discuss establishing a 'national dialogue' in Ukraine ahead of elections when they meet in Moscow on May 7.
Later Monday, in a speech to diplomats and defence experts at the Canadian War Museum, he warned that the redrawing of borders by force in Europe is no longer a thing of the past and the international community needs “to be better prepared for the next crisis, when it comes.”
Breedlove said NATO needs to ask itself some tough questions and among them is whether its forces are “positioned correctly.” New members, such as Poland, have called for the basing of western troops on their soil as a deterrent.
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At the same time, the narrative in Russia is that it’s adversaries are surrounding it, a fear that could be exacerbated as NATO flexes it muscles in a series measures and manoeuvres intended to reassure nervous Eastern European allies.
“What we have to do is build forces that reassure our allies, but are not necessarily provocative to the Russians,” said Breedlove, a former F-16 fighter pilot.
Earlier in the day, Breedlove met briefly with Harper, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson and Canada’s military commander, Gen. Tom Lawson.
The meetings were held against a backdrop of escalating violence in Ukraine, where the country’s elite troops have been dispatched to quell unrest in the key southern port city of Odessa.
Riots in Odessa led to 46 deaths Friday when a government building was set on fire. Carney says Ukrainian authorities should launch a full investigation. He says the U.S. mourns with Ukrainians the heartbreaking loss of life.
Ukraine sent an elite national guard unit to re-establish control Monday over the southern port of Odessa and government troops fought pitched gunbattles with a pro-Russia militia around an eastern city.
AP Photo/Vadim GhirdaPro-Ukrainian demonstrators march hold flares and make their way to the trade union building, in Odessa, Ukraine, Sunday, May 4, 2014, where people died in in a fire that tore through the building. More than 40 people died in riots two days earlier, some from gunshot wounds, but most in a horrific fire that tore through a trade union building.
The twin moves reflected an apparent escalation of efforts to bring both regions back under Kyiv’s control. The possible double loss of Odessa in the southwest and parts of eastern Ukraine could be catastrophic for the new government, leaving the country landlocked, cut off entirely from the Black Sea.
Ukraine already lost a significant part of its coastline in March, when its Black Sea peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russia.
Harper called the latest developments “very deeply concerning” and acknowledged NATO has asked for Canada’s support.
Breedlove says there is no doubt that Russian special forces are operating inside eastern Ukraine, in much the same manner they did in Crimea. But he wasn’t prepared Monday to accuse them of shooting down a Ukrainian helicopter near the eastern town of Slaviansk.
EPA/ALEXEY FURMANPro-Russian supporters clash with Ukrainian policemen near the city police department as participants of a rally attempt to release the pro-Russian supporters arrested during deadly clashes in the South-Ukrainian city of Odessa, Ukraine, May 4, 2014.
He said it’s known there are some ground-to-air missiles missing from a looted Ukrainian armoury, but the possible involvement of Russian forces is unclear.
The use of shadow troops with no clear uniform markings is something the international community — particularly the media — should have been prepared to call-out more forcefully at the beginning the annexation of Crimea, said Breedlove.
He also said when the conflict first erupted in February, questions about NATO’s relevance in the post-Cold War era evaporated overnight. Although, his fear is that if the world doesn’t see Russian tanks rolling over the border, it will eventually lose interest and it will be business as usual.
Harper said the Department of National Defence has contributed air, naval and army assets to help reassure eastern European allies that they have the support of NATO and Canada.
A Canadian frigate has been dispatched to operate with NATO’s standing task force in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, along with six CF-18 fighters to operate out of a Romanian air base and troops from the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, who will participate in a land exercise in Poland.
Breedlove thanked Canada for the contribution and told the audience during a question and answer session that several nations are looking at contributing additional troops and perhaps even other equipment. He refused to name them or be more specific.
He sidestepped questions about the defence spending of NATO nations.
The alliance sets a minimum goal for members of spending two per cent of GDP on their militaries — a target few them hit. Canada’s current defence budget rings in at roughly one per cent of GDP — a decline of roughly .2 per cent since the Afghan war ended.
Breedlove said only five of the 28 NATO nations achieve that goal, but since the crisis developed in Eastern Europe three other countries have pledged to increase their spending on the military.
AFP PHOTO/ GENYA SAVILOVGENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty ImagesPro-Russian militiants carry an man with his eyes covered outside the regional state building they seized in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on May 5, 2014. Russia warned on May 5 that Europe's peace was at risk over the escalating crisis in Ukraine, where deadly fighting raged around a flashpoint eastern city and the interim president warned of "war".
AP Photo/Darko VojinovicPro-Russian gunmen atop armored personal carriers passing by barricades on a road leading into Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 5, 2014. Ukrainian authorities are undertaking a security operation to liberate the nearby city of Slovyansk, which is currently controlled by an armed pro-Russian insurgency.