Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday to urge Ottawa to strictly adhere to international sanctions on Russia.

“Spoke to @JustinTrudeau. Thanked for the continued powerful defence support. Reiterated that the international position on sanctions must be principled,” Mr Zelensky tweeted.

He added, “After the terrorist attacks in Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Chasiv Yar, etc., the pressure must be increased, not decreased.”

He cited Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities far from the front line, which left dozens of civilians dead.

Canada is one of Ukraine’s biggest international supporters, but Ottawa’s recent decision at Germany’s request to return a Russian turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, appears to have instigated the conversation.

The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline under repair in Canada has drawn criticism from Mr Zelensky.

Trudeau’s office said the two leaders discussed the importance of maintaining strong unity amongst allies and continuing to impose severe costs on Russia.

Due to sanctions imposed following the Ukraine war, Canada initially refused to return the turbine to Russia, later deciding to hand it over to Germany.

Since June, Russian energy firm Gazprom has drastically cut gas deliveries to Germany via Nord Stream 1, blaming the missing turbine for the drop-off in supplies.

The Canadian prime minister has said his country needed to support Germany and other European allies facing looming energy shortages.

Gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 stopped entirely last Monday due to scheduled maintenance work that was due to last until July 21.

However, some European leaders had expressed fears that Gazprom could decide not to restart gas deliveries afterwards to punish German consumers and businesses. 

(dpa/NAN)