'Very much needed in these times': Canada sending electrical transformers to Ukraine

CTV National News: Push for Ukraine to join the EU Negotiations are ongoing for Ukraine to become a member of the European Union. Judy Trinh explains.

The federal government is donating seven electrical transformers to repair Ukraine’s battered electrical grid.

The announcement comes on the same day the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visits Canada with a focus on clean energy, trade and support for Ukraine.

The transformers will be delivered through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, a joint response group that helps to co-ordinate disaster response in the region.

“I very much welcome your intention to deliver generators to Ukraine, very much needed in these times, where Putin is strategically destroying the energy infrastructure and civil infrastructure in Ukraine,” said von der Leyen during a joint address with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The equipment is part of a multifaceted support for Ukraine to help address critical energy needs as the country continues to defend itself in the second year of Russia's invasion.

"As Ukrainians continue to contend with the effects of Russia's full-scale invasion, we reiterate our message to Ukraine and its people: Canada is with you. Our support will not relent," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly in a statement.

“Ukrainians are not alone in the fight for their homeland. Canada will always support democracy, sovereignty and human rights. Canada will always support Ukraine,” Joly also said.

The announcement also comes as von der Leyen calls on Canada to export more clean hydrogen to Europe, as the block of countries tries to wean itself off Russian energy.

“It is an extraordinary journey that we have undertaken during the last year,” von der Leyen told reporters Tuesday at the Canadian Forces Base Kingston, adding Europe’s energy needs had an “over-dependency” on Russia at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She said in the year since the invasion, Europe has “basically gotten rid of” Russian oil, coal, and gas.

“We have immediately diversified away form Russia to like-minded, trusted partners,” von der Leyen said, listing as examples U.S. liquefied natural gas and Norway’s pipeline gas.

The European Commission president said Canada has “helped a lot” as well, by increasing its LNG production.

“We do not have the necessary infrastructure to link Canada directly with the European Union, but the increased production of LNG here in Canada helped the global market to supply enough LNG to those who needed it,” she said.

“So it was a very difficult journey, but in the very end, thanks to our friends and partners, we were able to come out stronger than we started last year.”

Trudeau and von der Leyen also discussed critical raw materials, which von der Leyen called “the lifeblood of the clean economy.” She said a 2021 partnership on critical raw materials is “already bearing fruit,” and that it’s “time to take it to the next level.”

Trudeau and von der Leyen both lauded the sanctions imposed on Russia, on which von der Leyen said Canada and the European Commission have been “strongly aligned.”

And Trudeau also announced Tuesday that Canada is contributing another $3 million to support mining action in Ukraine, as well as recovery and reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country.

That money is in addition to the $32 million in funding that Canada is already providing to support mine action in Ukraine, and €43 million (about C$62.4 million at today's exchange rate) the EU is providing for the same purpose.

With files from CTV News’ Spencer Van Dyk