Ukrainian Canadians feted Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s arrival in Canada in style with a large billboard near the Calgary International Airport proudly welcoming him to the G7 Summit.

Ukraine’s President was an honoured guest in Kananaskis for the G7 meetings taking place in the Canadian Rockies’ foothills on June 17. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who first invited the 47-year-old to Alberta exactly three months beforehand, posed for an outdoor photo with the Ukrainian leader before the two men ventured inside for a bilateral meeting.

Carney opened his remarks by condemning Russia’s missile and drone strike attack on an apartment complex in Kyiv hours before. Zelenskyy said the attack killed at least 12 people and wounded 138 more. 

The Prime Minister declared that this latest attack “underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

Zelenskyy thanked Carney and the Canadian people for supporting Ukraine before offering condolences to families in Ukraine.

“Ukrainians had, our families had, a very difficult night,” said Zelenskyy. “One of the biggest attacks from the beginning of this war.”

Carney conveyed to Zelenskyy that the G7 leaders agreed the previous night about “the importance of using maximum pressure against Russia.” He said the pressure tactics Canada will bring to bear include sanctions on individuals, “40 entities in Russia and beyond that are trying to contribute to the evasion of sanctions” and over 200 “shadow fleet vessels.” About $2 billion worth of drones, helicopters and munitions are being provided and there will be an additional $2 billion released from frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s use.  

Zelenskyy emphasized that “we need support from our allies” and said to Carney, “thank you for the military package. It is important for our soldiers to be strong on the battlefield, to stay strong until Russia is ready will be ready for the peace negotiations.”

“We are ready for the peace negotiations — an unconditional ceasefire,” said Zelenskyy. “I think it is very important, but for this we need pressure.”

Carney indicated other G7 countries will pledge additional supports to Ukraine. Notably, Zelenskyy’s team expressed a desire for him to meet one-on-one with U.S. President Donald Trump in Kananaskis. A sit-down was on the books, but Trump decided on the summit’s second day he needed to return to the White House to monitor the escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran.

Admitting that while the “schedule is in flux,” Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) CEO and executive director Ihor Michalchyshyn told The Catholic Register June 16 there would be a good possibility Zelenskyy would meet with a delegation of Ukrainian Canadians following his appearances with the world leaders. The plan was to host this meeting in an undisclosed location. Details on if this meeting took place and what unfolded were not made public at the time of the Register’s print deadline.

Michalchyshyn shared the message the UCC team hopes to convey to the figure who has overseen the safeguarding of their homeland since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

“It’s an important moment for him to see how strongly support for Ukraine continues to be in Canada and tell him about the work that we’re doing to maintain that (effort),” said Michalchyshyn.

The UCC also plans to bestow a gift epitomizing Ukrainian Canadian heritage to Zelenskyy.

Auxiliary Bishop Andriy Rabiy of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Winnipeg said it is important from Zelenskyy’s perspective to inform Ukrainian refugees in Canada that “they are not forgotten.”

“He wants (them) to maintain those ties to Ukraine in the hope that once the war is over, they will all be coming home,” said Rabiy. “He does not make the distinction between the diaspora or those who moved here in earlier generations or the newcomers that just arrived in Canada within the past three years. And it’s not something extraordinary in a way because, once again, he is doing that in every country where he visits whether it be the United States or in Western Europe.”

The Ukrainian Eparchy of Edmonton declined to comment on the political ramifications of Zelenskyy at the G7 summit because of its pastoral identity, but the eparchy office relayed that “we are praying that the meeting goes well.”

Fr. Andrew Onuferko, the vicar general for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto, shared his hope “that truth and justice will prevail,” because “Ukrainians have always understood “that the past three years are not isolated.” He called for moral clarity and solidarity at this time, and he also noted the example of camaraderie exhibited by the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada.

Oksana Wynnyckyj-Yusypovych, the former honorary consul at the Canadian Consulate in Lviv, posted a picture of Bishop Scott McCaig of the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada alongside Fr. Terry Cherwick, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 3rd Canadian Division. They were in Ukraine the past few days guiding a spiritual retreat for Ukrainian military chaplains.