Russia’s Foreign Ministry appealed to Canada’s top diplomat in Moscow on Tuesday that the comments made by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly about “regime change” in Russia were unacceptable.
The ministry noted that it had summoned Canadian charge d'affaires Brian Ebel, expressing to him that Joly's comments were unacceptable, according to Reuters.
Reuters reported that Canadian media quoted Joly as saying on March 10: "We're able to see how much we're isolating the Russian regime right now — because we need to do so economically, politically and diplomatically — and what are the impacts also on society and how much we're seeing potential regime change in Russia."
Consequently, the Russian response condemned what they referred to as a “Russophobic attack” that would inevitably have serious effects on the relationship between the two countries. The Eastern European power also noted that it reserved the right to carry out “appropriate countermeasures,” which depended on how Ottawa decides to respond.
Canada is a member of NATO and the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies, and has joined their Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
Canada has also supported the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to call for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin after it was discovered that Russia has taken Ukrainian children and relocated them to Russia for the purpose of re-education.
Additionally, Poland and Slovakia recently announced their intentions of sending MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in an effort to help the small country push back against Russian forces.
The US has fast-tracked the process of sending tanks to Ukraine, though these models are reported to be of an older model.
