OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to France next week to meet with Ukraine’s allies as talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Russia’s war intensify.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Friday that Carney will be in Paris on Monday and Tuesday to meet with the “coalition of the willing” in an effort to push forward a ceasefire agreement.
In a media statement, 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 said 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.
Russia has been engaged in full-scale war with Ukraine for nearly four years, though the conflict dates back to 2014 and Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Canada has joined allies in Europe and beyond in backing Ukraine’s sovereignty.
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 on Saturday.
Ottawa pegs the total value of Canada’s commitments to Ukraine at $23.5 billion to date; $12 billion of that sum came in the form of direct financial support.
Fen Osler Hampson, professor of international affairs at Carleton University, said Carney’s willingness to cross the Atlantic Ocean for the meeting shows he’s “clearly serious” about the Ukraine peace efforts.
“That’s an important signal that Canada’s in this for the long haul, not for the short haul, and we’re prepared to do some heavy lifting here,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who hosted Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Sunday, insisted that Ukraine and Russia were “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement, though he acknowledged that outstanding obstacles could prevent a deal.
The U.S.-led peace efforts hit a new obstacle earlier this week when Moscow said it would toughen its negotiating stance after what it claimed was a long-range drone attack on a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in northwestern Russia early Monday.
Kyiv has denied attacking Putin’s residence, saying the Russian claim was a ruse to derail the negotiations.
In his New Year’s address, Zelenskyy said a peace deal was “90 per cent ready” but warned that the remaining 10 per cent — believed to include key sticking points, such as territory — would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live.”
Hampson said the sticking points in the talks likely revolve around security guarantees and contested territories.
It remains to be seen whether Putin would accept terms that would let him walk away with a victory in principle, or remains bent on conquering all of Ukraine.
“I think the suspicion is very much — in Western capitals — it’s the latter,” Hampson said.
The Trump administration and Trump himself remain wild cards at the table, he added. Some voices in Trump’s cabinet seem willing to abandon Ukraine, he said, while others are more staunchly opposed to Russian aggression.
The coalition of the willing will not advocate selling out Ukraine, Hampson said.
“It’s an important message to be sending to Donald Trump that NATO allies are prepared to provide the economic and security guarantees that are required to prevent the fall of Ukraine,” he said.
For Ukraine, any security guarantee likely would require no cap on the size of its military or output from its defence industry, Hampson said.
It also would require provisions similar to NATO’s Article 5 mutual defence clause, he argued, which could see coalition allies put troops on the ground to act as a deterrent.
“It’s got to be a very robust tripwire that will make it clear to Russia that if they try funny business again — if they try to invade Ukraine again — they’re going to be involved in war with western countries. That’s what a credible security guarantee is,” Hampson said.
During his first official visit to the war-torn country in August, Carney did not rule out putting boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a security agreement.
Hampson said Canada has shown up with money and morale so far, but likely will also have to play a military role to prove the country is serious about supporting a sovereign Ukraine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press
Craig Lord, The Canadian Press
