Canada: Ukraine Has Not Requested the Deployment of Our Troops

The Canadian Ministry of Defense announced that Ukraine has not approached Canada with a request to send Canadian troops to Ukrainian territory. Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair responded "no" to reporters' questions regarding whether Ukraine made such a request. He reiterated that the possibility of Canadian military personnel performing "any combat role" in Ukraine is excluded. Blair did not rule out the training of Ukrainian military personnel within Ukraine, but stated that there are currently no conditions for that. The "Toronto Star" had reported, citing Blair, that Canada does not exclude the possibility of sending a limited number of military personnel to train Ukrainian soldiers on Ukrainian territory, provided the training operations occur away from the frontline as part of a non-combat mission. Previously, Canadian Defense Department spokesperson Diana Abadi denied any plans for Canada to send troops to Ukraine. This comes in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement of the potential deployment of Western troops to Ukraine; however, senior officials from NATO, various European nations, and the White House confirmed that there are no plans to send troops to Ukrainian territory.