Support for Ukraine lies at “the core of our foreign policy,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said as she touched on the importance of cooperation among Group of Seven nations in condemning Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of its neighbor.

Joly spoke to The Asahi Shimbun during her visit to Japan earlier this month after meeting with her Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the previous day.

“We have 1.5 million Ukrainians living in Canada,” Joly explained in the Oct. 12 interview. “This is the biggest diaspora after Russia.”

She noted that Canada helped train 30,000 Ukrainian military officers under a cooperative program prior to the onset of war and has invested $3 billion (440 billion yen) to date in support of Ukraine.

Joly added that Canada continues to support Ukraine in areas such as accountability in the international judicial system, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, and landmine clearance.

During the interview, she referred to the growing presence of China in world affairs, saying “we will defend our own interests and values.” She added that Canada is committed to standing up against human rights violations and economic coercion by China. At the same time, she said Canada remains eager to cooperate with China in areas such as climate change.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Question: What are goals during your visit to Japan?

Joly: Canada is a Pacific country and the future of the world will be decided in this part of the world, in the Indo-Pacific. So that’s why we want to become more engaged. We are finalizing our Indo-Pacific strategy right now, and there’s no more natural partner than Japan. We want to make sure that this relationship is taken up a notch. And in that sense, we want to make sure that we partner on the economic side. We’re both partners of the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), we have a lot to offer to Japan when it comes to LNG (liquefied natural gas), to food, and also to critical minerals and all the supply-chain links to electric vehicles.

This is a question of economic security for Japan. The second thing is that everything is linked to security of the region. So from the standpoint of North Korea, completely egregious actions, such as the firing of ballistic missiles on Oct. 4, undermine the stability of the region to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. That’s our goal. So in a preview of our future Indo-Pacific strategy, which will be released in coming weeks, it was really important to be here.

Q: I’d like to ask about Canada’s focus in terms of support for Ukraine?

A: At this point, we’ve invested more than $3 billion to support Ukraine. This is at the core of our foreign policy. We have 1.5 million Ukrainians living in Canada. This is the biggest diaspora after Russia. We’re the second biggest diaspora. Not only because we have a strong relationship with Ukraine and Ukrainians, this is also about standing up for international rules that have kept the world safe since the end of World War II.

In that regard, we have put financial assistance in place and provided military equipment. We’re very good at training. Before the war, we trained 30,000 Ukrainian officers. Now we’re training them in Poland and the United Kingdom.

We are also offering humanitarian assistance. We’re also looking at the future, which includes pushing for accountability before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. We are working on the reconstruction of Ukraine and de-mining. So in that sense, we are one of the countries that have invested the most in terms of responding to Ukraine’s needs, and that will continue.

Q: Why did Canada support Sweden and Finland becoming members of NATO?

A: Sweden and Finland were already strong partners because they are like-minded. Second, they both have a strong military capacity. Third, they were already enhanced partners and fourth, they are Arctic nations. We are an Arctic nation, we are neighbors of Russia. Now, seven of the eight Arctic Council members are members of NATO. That’s why it was so important for Canada to support Sweden, Finland. We were the first country to ratify their accession.

Q: Do you see any chance of diplomatic relations between your country and Russia changing in the future?

A: I think at this point, our goal is to maximize pressure on Russia diplomatically, economically and politically. That’s what we’ve been doing since the invasion. And until they change course, that will be our strategy. I also understand that the Arctic Council is not meeting with Russia anymore. We are all aligned, seven out of the eight countries. So that means it’s Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, us and the United States. Russia has put itself into a situation where it’s isolating itself, also from the overall issues that the Arctic is facing. We’re not the only ones who have adopted this approach to Russia.

Q: I understand that relations between China and Canada have been fraught, especially after the detention of a Huawei executive and Canadian nationals in China. How is Canada handling these issues from a diplomatic standpoint?

A: We will continue to engage with China. And when we engage with China, we will defend our own interests and values. We will always stand up against human rights violations by China. We will always stand up against economic coercion. In terms of human rights and economic coercion, we will definitely work with Japan to make sure that we have a strong voice. At the same time, we will engage against any form of reckless action on the part of China that goes against the international rules-based order. 

We are cooperating with China, particularly on the question of climate change and health. On behalf of China, Canada is hosting COP15 because of their zero COVID policy. They were supposed to host COP15 on biodiversity, but we are hosting that conference in Montreal with China under China’s presidency in December. So basically, we will be firm and at the same time where our interests coincide on climate change, for example, we will make sure that we can cooperate because this is for the future of our planet.

Q: What do you expect from Japan in terms of China-Canada relations?

A: I think that what is happening right now is that the G-7 is really focused on Ukraine, and also on the reaction of China toward Taiwan, which is completely unacceptable as well as reckless and dangerous. I look forward to Japan hosting the G-7 next year because I think this will definitely focus on Japan’s leadership in how we ensure peace and stability in the region.

We will partner with Japan. It’s not only talking about what we can do, but taking action. Canada is part of an important coalition that is implementing U.N. Security Council sanctions. There is now real on-the-ground cooperation between Japan, between Canada, between the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Basically, there are nine countries that are involved. We are now focusing even more on the Indo-Pacific. We want to increase our involvement. We are a reliable partner.

It’s not only a question about North Korea, it’s also about making sure that international waters are accessible and that international law is protected. Big and small countries need to abide by the same rules. Our goal is to work hand in glove with Japan on security.