Two Montrealers of Ukrainian descent have been on a hunger strike in front of the Canadian Parliament since Sunday in hopes that the government will reconsider its decision in the case of the turbines supplied to Gazprom.
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“It was very hurtful for us to see that Canada was blackmailed by Russia instead of Ukraine at the critical moment,” said Arsenii Pivtorak, one of the two young men who has not eaten for more than 48 hours.
The latter believes this exemption from sanctions imposed by Canada will set “a dangerous precedent”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regretted Ottawa’s decision.
“If a terrorist state can enforce an exemption from such sanctions, what exemptions will it want tomorrow?” he asked in a video.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who passed Estrie on Tuesday, was silent on this statement by the Ukrainian president.
For his part, Natural Resources Secretary Jonathan Wilkinson said he wanted to avoid hurting allies.
“The point of these sanctions is not to ‘harm’ our allies in Europe,” he said.
Germans depend on Russian gas to heat their homes.
In addition, the European Commission welcomes Canada’s decision and now believes that with these turbines, Russia no longer has any excuses to reduce gas flow to Europe.