Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has pledged that Canada will intensify its efforts to safeguard Arctic sovereignty, declaring the federal government will leave “no stone unturned” in securing the North. Speaking in Helsinki after meetings with Nordic counterparts, Anand said the region has taken on greater strategic urgency since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 shifted NATO’s focus beyond Europe’s eastern front.
“We are seeing increased activity in the Northwest Passage and expanded Russian infrastructure north of the Arctic Circle,” Anand warned. “Our priority is to protect and defend Canada’s sovereignty, especially in the Arctic, and to ensure NATO also looks westward and northward in response to the changing geopolitical landscape.”
Her comments came as European leaders, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss possible steps toward ending the war. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had joined earlier virtual talks, did not attend Monday’s session. Anand reaffirmed Canada’s position that “decisions regarding the future of Ukraine belong to Ukrainians alone.”
Anand stressed that Canada’s Arctic strategy now intertwines defense and economic security, pointing to the region’s wealth of critical minerals and its growing accessibility due to climate change. “One cannot view projects in silos anymore. Canada’s economic security is tied directly to our sovereignty and our ability to protect the country as a whole,” she said.
Later this week, Anand will meet Finnish President Alexander Stubb to discuss Arctic cooperation, critical minerals, and international law. She emphasized Canada’s broader diplomatic mission to rally allies in upholding territorial integrity and the rules-based international order. “We must build bridges with other countries to ensure that international law is respected, not just for peace in Ukraine but across the globe,” she said.