Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government was discussing with Ukraine the possibility of reopening the Canadian embassy in Kyiv, which had been closed just before the Russian invasion.
Freeland said he spoke to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Thursday evening about reopening the embassy.
“Prime Minister Shmyhal told me about the Ukrainian government’s efforts to restore normal life in Kyiv,” she told a press conference after meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Washington on Friday.
Freeland did not fully commit to Canada reopening the embassy when pressed by reporters, but said “we are talking about it.”
WATCH: Freeland discusses the reopening of the Canadian embassy in Kyiv
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says she is in talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to find out if Canada will reopen its embassy in Kyiv.
As Russia now concentrates its forces in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, residents have began to return to the Ukrainian capitalalthough local authorities fear that Russia will strike again in Kyiv.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that the UK plans to reopen its embassy in the Ukrainian capital next week. Diplomats from other European countries have returned to Kyiv since the withdrawal of Russian troops from the capital region.
Canada moved some of its diplomatic operations to Lviv in western Ukraine when it closed the embassy in Kyiv, but all staff have since moved to Poland.
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said the government was considering resuming diplomatic operations in Ukraine, but did not offer a timeline for reopening the embassy.
“We are exploring options to resume operations in Ukraine as soon as the security situation allows us to. Until then, the temporary suspension of operations at both our embassy and consulate in Ukraine will continue,” the official said. spokesperson in an email.
Russia’s status at the G20
During the press conference, Freeland also said that Russia should be expelled from the G20. She said it was a key talking point at this week’s meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bankers.
“Russia has no place at the table of countries that have come together to maintain global economic prosperity and maintain a rules-governed global economy,” she said. “You can’t be a poacher and a game warden at the same time.”
Freeland hesitated when asked what the process would be to eject Russia from the G20.
Her statement came just days after she and other national government officials walked out of a G20 meeting to protest the presence of Russian delegates.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested in March that the G20 should rethinking russia’s membership.
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