As a Canadian Representative to the 2022 Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, I was pleased to bring back this message from Ukraine to the soldiers from Garrison Petawawa, who have acted as trainers to the Ukrainian military. Since Putin’s attack on Ukraine, Canadian Armed Forces members have said they wished they could be doing more to support the brave people of Ukraine.
I relayed this to a colleague, MP Yehor Cherniev, of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, also a soldier on leave from the war zone for the conference. He replied, “Dear Canadian Trainers, every success we have is from what you taught us. We are still standing strong, defending our land because of you. Every win we have is your win. You are always with us.”
The 2022 spring session recently took place in Vilnius, Lithuania this year. Up until February 24th of this year, it was to be held in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, is composed of elected politicians from NATO member countries.
It stands firmly with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, condemning in the strongest possible terms Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of choice against Ukraine – the gravest aggression in Europe since World War II – and reaffirms unwavering support for Ukraine’s democracy, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.