MANILA – Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will not waiver in its support of NATO allies, as European leaders express concern at Russia seeking a reordering of continental security in negotiations with Ukraine.
“There’s no way that Canada as a NATO member is going to walk away from any other NATO member — ever,” Carney said at a news conference Saturday in Manila.
His comments come amid talks brokered by the U.S. between Russia and Ukraine, aimed at ending Moscow’s incursions into Ukraine in 2014 which expanded into a full-scale invasion in 2022.
American and Russian negotiators have widened the discussions around borders and prisoners to include wider European security arrangements that have been in place since the end of the Cold War, in particular how NATO functions.
That has raised fears of pressure to soften the alliance’s stance that it will protect any NATO country that is attacked, including those which border Russia.
Carney said Saturday that Canada wants “more stable outcomes” than repeating historical missteps that involved trying to limit Russian expansionism without adequate deterrence. He cited steps taken in the 1940s, the Minsk agreements, and the French policy of cordon sanitaire.
“The security architecture for free Europe will be determined by free Europe and NATO, not by Russia and a redux of the Minsk agreement,” Carney said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Shenzhen, China next week, as will Carney.
The prime minister said he will not boycott the traditional “family photo” of leaders at the summit. “I will participate in the photos, out of respect for the host,” Carney said.
In contrast, last month Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said she would have boycotted a photo at a G20 meeting that included her Russian counterpart in Atlanta, as European peers had done.
Anand said that in any case, she arrived at that meeting after the photo was set to occur. The American hosts ended up cancelling the photo.
Carney said Saturday that Canada’s stance on Russia has been clearly demonstrated through its sanctions policies and a recent announcement of banning athletes competing under the flags of Russia or Belarus at sporting events in Canada.
“Canada stands firmly with Ukraine, firmly with democracy, territorial integrity, rule of law — and all of those put us on the other side of Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” he said.
Moscow has rejected numerous statements and framings from Ottawa, arguing Canada is not serious about dialogue with Russia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2026.
— With files from the Associated Press
