Canada must be ready for ‘all scenarios’ as Russia continues nuclear threats: Joly

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week escalated his rhetoric against Western countries supporting Ukraine, suggesting the military support equates to a 'proxy war.'

Canada and allies must be ready for “all scenarios” when it comes to whether Russia could deploy nuclear weapons amid its “failure” in Ukraine, says Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.

Joly appeared before the Senate foreign affairs committee Thursday afternoon to answer questions about the federal government’s response to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.

Since then, Russian officials have issued varying degrees of nuclear threats and Joly was asked by the committee how seriously Canadians should be taking those threats of a potential nuclear conflict.

“I think that we have to be ready for all scenarios, and I think at the same time that it won’t be the last time Russia makes threats in light of the fact that Ukrainian forces are resisting way more than they thought,” Joly responded.

“Clearly, their invasion is a failure and will continue to be a failure, and we won’t stop our efforts until Ukraine wins. When I mean Ukraine wins, what I mean is Russian forces leave Ukraine,” she added.

“That is why we need to make sure we work with allies on this and we prepare for different types of scenarios.”

Russia has retreated over recent weeks following its failure to conquer key areas of Ukraine including the capital city of Kyiv.

But the retreat is seeing a shift in focus on the eastern region of Donbas, and a regrouping of Russian forces ahead of what is expected to be a major military push in the coming days and weeks.