Carney, Zelenskyy discuss Ukraine peace talks and pressure on Russia

National security expert Anthony Seaboyer on what will likely be discussed when Carney and Zelenskyy meet in Halifax.

Amid ongoing peace negotiations around Russia’s nearly four-year-long invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday to affirm Canada’s support for the country.

Carney “affirmed Canada’s commitment to Ukraine throughout these negotiations and emphasized the need to maintain pressure on Russia to negotiate,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Zelenskyy, for his part, “thanked Canada for its clear recognition of the necessity for joint efforts to guarantee security and real recovery,” according to a statement from his office.

Canada has committed $22 billion in assistance to Ukraine since 2022. In addition to direct assistance, Canada has sanctioned more than 3,300 individuals and entities “complicit in the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Zelenskyy’s office said he also spoke to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and leaders from Germany, Finland, Estonia and Denmark ahead of the talks.

Zelenskyy has said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin could pull troops out of the Donbas region, which Russia has only partially occupied, and create a demilitarized, internationally protected zone.

The Ukrainian president said Friday that he would meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday in Florida to discuss security guarantees. Ukraine had previously surrendered its nuclear missiles for joint security guarantees with Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom in 1994, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

• Zelenskyy says he will meet with Trump in Florida on Sunday

The talks hinge on a 20-point peace plan proposed by the U.S., but Zelenskyy warned Friday that security guarantees, territory and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain unresolved issues.

He said details around how guarantees would work remain unclear, and that Ukraine would not cede any territory it currently controls — a position that runs counter to what U.S. intelligence sources believe Russia’s ambitions to be.

The Zaporizhzhia plant is currently under Russian occupation and is running on backup generators. Zelenskyy called the situation “critical” in October. The plant has lost its off-site power at least 10 times since the war began.

The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has resulted in 12,062 civilian casualties in the first 10 months of 2025, following 9,112 civilian casualties in 2024, according to a November United Nations report. Overall, the conflict has caused 53,006 civilian casualties, including 14,534 deaths, the report said.

With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press