By Alexander Schummer
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada has decided to shut its ports to Russian owned ships later this week in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said on Tuesday.
Canada has a taken a series of measures, including imposing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, closing Canadian airspace to Russian planes, and forbidding Canadian financial institutions from dealing with the Russian central bank as part of Western nations’ moves to isolate Russia.
“Russia must be held accountable for its invasion of Ukraine,” Alghabra said. “Today, we are taking steps to close Canadian waters and ports to Russian-owned or registered ships. We will continue to take action to stand with Ukraine,” he added.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also banned imports of Russian crude oil.
(Reporting by Alexander Schummer in Toronto; Writing by Denny Thomas; editing by Grant McCool)
