Canada sanctions Russia, promises more troops to Latvia: Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is sending hundreds more troops to eastern Europe and imposing new sanctions on Russia in response to the deployment of forces into Ukraine.

The Prime Minister says up to 460 additional Canadian Armed Forces members are being sent to Latvia and the surrounding region to bolster NATO in the face of Russian aggression.

“Russia’s flagrant disregard for the independence of a sovereign nation is a serious threat to security and stability in the region and around the world,” Trudeau said.

“Canada and our allies will defend democracy. We are taking these actions today in a stand against authoritarianism.”

The new troops are being deployed alongside an additional naval frigate and Aurora surveillance aircraft, and are on top of the 540 Armed Forces members already deployed to Latvia.

Trudeau says Canada is also taking a number of steps alongside its allies to isolate Russia financially by imposing economic sanctions against a number of Russian parliamentarians, business leaders and companies, including banks and defence firms.

Canada is also banning the purchase of Russian sovereign debt and any financial dealing with the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

“As the economic pressure mounts from the sanctions imposed by Canada and its allies, Russia will need to seek new funding by leveraging their sovereign debt,” Freeland said.

“We will make it illegal for Canadians to join in that effort, both directly and indirectly. Without a way to recover these costs the Russian economy will be severely impacted.”

She added that further sanctions will be imposed if Russia continues with its aggression.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday recognizing two regions of eastern Ukraine as independent before ordering Russian troops into those areas.

World leaders hit back with non-military actions Tuesday in hopes of averting a full-blown war in Europe.

“One of the things that we have seen with Putin’s demands around Ukraine and NATO presence that far from seeing a reduction of Western forces in eastern Europe,” Trudeau said. “Vladimir Putin has achieved the opposite.”

Germany made the first big move, taking steps to halt certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a massive, lucrative deal long sought by Moscow but criticized by the U.S. for increasing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy supplies.

And in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden announced financial sanctions as punishment for what he called “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

The sanctions will hit Russian financial institutions and oligarchs. He said the U.S. would impose “full blocking” on two large Russian financial institutions and “comprehensive sanctions” on Russian debt.

Biden promised that more sanctions would be coming if Putin proceeds further.

With files from The Associated Press