Canada’s embassy in Ukraine could reopen within a matter of days or weeks after officials shuttered it earlier this year in connection with Russia’s invasion of the sovereign democracy.
While Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said it’s not yet clear whether embassy staff would operate in the capital of Kyiv or the western city of Lviv, she said the goal is to be able to reopen imminently.
“We’re looking at several scenarios,” she told journalists in French on Wednesday morning.
That move could come amid a federal push to grant Joly new powers to seize and sell off Russian assets held in Canada in order to fund Ukraine’s recovery, and as Russia has threatened in recent days to step up targeting of “decision-making centers” in Kyiv.
Joly on Wednesday morning also announced new sanctions against more than 200 people from the eastern areas of Ukraine who support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
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In a statement, Global Affairs Canada said the new sanctions will target 11 senior officials and 192 other people supporting the invasion from within Luhansk and Donetsk, located in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
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