Canada’s controversial presence at Russian embassy ceremony in Ottawa | War in Ukraine

As Canada takes a tough line on Moscow, Global Affairs Canada sent its Deputy Chief of Protocol to a reception hosted by the Russian Embassy in Ottawa on Friday. A “completely unacceptable” gesture, reacted the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly.

According to information first revealed by the daily The Globe & Mail and confirmed by CBC, Yasemin Heinbecker, a senior representative of the Canadian ministry, was present Friday at the Russian embassy in Ottawa. A ceremony was held there to mark Russia Day.

Completely unacceptable. No Canadian representative should have attended the event organized at the Russian Embassy and no Canadian representative will attend such an event in the future declared on Twitter Sunday evening, Minister Joly.

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Completely unacceptable. No Canadian representative should have attended the event organized at the Russian Embassy and no Canadian representative will attend such an event in the future.

The ???????? supports the ???????? in its fight once morest the atrocious invasion of Russia. https://t.co/ukSGadG8Mf

– Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) June 12, 2022

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The decision to send a Protocol officer to the reception was made by Global Affairs Canadawe confirm on the side of the ministry in charge of diplomatic relations.

The latter specifies by e-mail thatno Canadian representative should have attended the event organized at the Russian Embassy and no Canadian representative will attend such an event in the future. Russian officials will not be invited to Canada Day events hosted by the department.

Russian Ambassador to Canada reacts

For his part, the Russian ambassador Oleg Stepanov, wanted toHeinbecker for gracing our reception”,”text”:”thank Mrs. Heinbecker for gracing our reception”}}”>thank Mrs. Heinbecker for having graced our reception.

Diplomacy is a matter of dialogue. Despite the current political disagreements, we must bear in mind that our countries are neighbours. […] We do not look at Canada through the lens of confrontation and are prepared to wait patiently for the Trudeau cabinet or the next government to understand that it is in Canada’s national interest to pursue good neighborly relations with Russia. . This would certainly benefit both our nations and the Arctic region.the ambassador added in a written statement.