Immediate Release
Jeffrey Sachs challenges Canadian policy on Ukraine
On May 3 world-renowned intellectual Jeffrey Sachs will speak to a Canadian audience about “The Path to Peace in Ukraine”. He will be joined by University of Ottawa Ukraine expert Ivan Katchanovski who has published extensively on the 2014 coup against elected president Viktor Yanukovich, which is an important incident in understanding today’s war.
Sachs has twice been named by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People. Current President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Sacks has been involved in Eastern Europe for over three decades.
“This is a war fundamentally about the US attempt to expand a US military alliance to Ukraine”, noted Sachs.
It should be noted that successive Canadian governments have pushed to expand NATO eastward, including to Ukraine. With 100,000 Russian troops amassed on the border, foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly travelled to Kyiv in January 2022 to promote Ukraine joining NATO.
In recent weeks Brazilian president Lula da Silva has repeatedly criticized NATO countries for fuelling the war while opposing peace negotiations. Similarly, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Canada, Rieaz Shaik, told the Canadian Press that Ottawa’s failure to support peace negotiations was “shocking”. Sachs will add his voice to the growing international chorus opposing Canadian policy.
“Canada promoted NATO expansion and undermined the Minsk II peace accord. During the past 14 months Canada has sent ever more weapons to Ukraine while opposing negotiations. Recently foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly openly declared, ‘right now, it’s not time to talk about peace, it is time to arm them.’ Still, no Members of Parliament are challenging Canada’s belligerent policy”, noted Canadian Foreign Policy Institute director Bianca Mugyenyi. “There isn’t an MP actively promoting peace negotiations.”
Journalists interested in asking Jeffrey Sachs or Ivan Katchanovski a question can send confirmation of their interest to info@foreignpolicy.ca
The press event will be held live online on May 3rd at 11 AM ET. Registration details can be found at: https://bit.ly/3oUcIFI
For more information contact the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute: 514-436-7629, info@foreignpolicy.ca
May 3, 2023 11:00 AM in
World-renowned intellectual Jeffrey Sachs will speak on “The Path to Peace in Ukraine”. Sachs was twice named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time & ranked by The Economist among the top three most influential living economists. He will be joined by University of Ottawa Ukraine expert Ivan Katchanovski who will provide background on the conflict in Ukraine as well as context around Canada’s role.
Background: Recently, the Canadian government called for regime change in Moscow & openly opposed China’s call for a truce and negotiations. At the same time Canada has donated more than $2 billion in arms to Ukraine. Alongside large amounts of weapons, Canada is sharing critical military intelligence and training Ukrainian troops while Canadian special forces & former troops operate in Ukraine.
Russia’s war is illegal & brutal and Ottawa contributed to provoking this horrible conflict through its role in promoting NATO expansion, helping oust elected president Victor Yanukovich & military assistance that undermined the Minsk II peace accord.
It’s time the Canadian government pushed for a truce & negotiations to end the horrors.
SPEAKERS
Jeffrey Sachs is a professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. His most recent book is ‘The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions’ (2020). Sachs was twice named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders & ranked by The Economist among the top three most influential living economists.
Ivan Katchanovski is a University of Ottawa professor who has published four books & numerous articles including “The far right, the Euromaidan, & the Maidan massacre in Ukraine” & “The hidden origin of the escalating Ukraine-Russia conflict”.
Host: CFPI
Co-sponsors:
World Beyond War
Rights Action
Just Peace Advocates
