May 20, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Marc Garneau, spoke today with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council.
Minister Garneau reiterated that Canada strongly supports the work of the Arctic Council and will continue to work with all Arctic States and Indigenous Permanent Participants to encourage initiatives for sustainable economic, social and cultural development, as well as environmental protection initiatives that are important to northern people and communities in the circumpolar arctic.
He also reiterated Canada’s unequivocal condemnation of the illegal Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, and expressed Canada’s concern over recent destabilizing actions by Russia in and around Ukraine. .
In addition, Minister Garneau expressed Canada’s long-standing concerns about other Russian destabilizing behavior, as well as the deteriorating human rights situation. He stressed that respect for the voices of the opposition, independent media, dissidents and civil society is a fundamental element of freedom and democracy. He also called once again for the release of Alexey Navalny, a figure of the opposition.
The two ministers discussed Canada’s concerns regarding the dire political, humanitarian and economic situation in Venezuela.
Finally, Minister Garneau and Minister Lavrov discussed the development of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Minister Garneau reiterated that Canada continues to call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tensions and hoped that the parties could take significant steps in this direction, including by speeding up the release of detainees and the restitution of the remains of the deceased, investigating and prosecuting suspected war crimes, and cooperating in mine clearance. Minister Garneau indicated that Canada will continue to support the leading role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in order to achieve a permanent resolution of this conflict.
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