James Horncastle, The Conversation:
By partnering with Canada to produce drones at scale within Canada, Ukraine is helping alleviate one of the Canadian Armed Forces’ biggest issues: over-reliance on American military hardware.
Ukraine has also demonstrated the importance of alliances for middle powers. Middle powers need a variety of allies and cannot rely too extensively on one country, as the United States’ pivot on Ukraine demonstrates.
Canada’s increased co-operation with Ukraine helps it acquire support and goodwill from the European Union, which views Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an existential crisis.
With Canada seeking closer ties with the European Union, supporting Ukraine at a moment of need demonstrates Canada’s alignment with European interests and can strengthen its position globally.
Ukraine and Canada have ideological reasons to partner, but more important is how the partnership will help both countries achieve their goals.