Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Calgary, in the western Canadian province of Alberta, on Thursday, securing a package of military and energy support from Canada as Russia intensifies its aerial assault on Ukrainian cities ahead of winter. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hosted Zelenskyy in a city where he grew up among one of the country's largest Ukrainian-heritage communities — an estimated 350,000 Albertans trace their roots to Ukraine, with ties dating to a wave of migration beginning in 1893.
The centrepiece of the announcements was a C$350 million (approximately US$254 million) package of critical air-defense interceptors, to be delivered through a US-administered multinational mechanism known as the Jumpstart program. Zelenskyy called the package "crucial," noting that air-defense systems remain in short supply globally at a time when Russia is deploying ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones at scale against Ukrainian infrastructure. Canada also pledged more than C$430 million in loan guarantees to help Ukraine purchase natural gas and contribute to its Energy Security Fund, aimed at repairing damaged power infrastructure and keeping hospitals supplied through a winter marked by rolling blackouts. On the drone front, Carney announced that Canada — whose armed forces currently operate only about 2,000 drones — would scale its fleet tenfold through new contracts, with one-third of all domestically manufactured drones earmarked for Ukraine. Zelenskyy said the drones would reach the battlefield immediately, adding that deeper cooperation would also give Ukraine access to technology proven in modern warfare.
The two leaders signed a declaration committing their countries to a "hundred-year partnership" spanning defense, critical minerals and energy — an agreement to be formally negotiated over the coming months. "Ukrainians helped build Canada, and Canadians will help rebuild Ukraine," Carney said, pledging that even after the fighting ends, Canada's posture toward Russia would be to "deter and fortify" rather than simply extend trust. The bilateral relationship carries particular weight in Alberta, where Ukrainian heritage is woven into local identity.
On the diplomatic front, Zelenskyy said he does not expect substantive trilateral peace negotiations while Russia's parliamentary elections, scheduled for September 20, are ongoing. He indicated, however, that he anticipated meeting US officials — and likely President Donald Trump — in New York at the end of September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. His national security advisers, he said, are in daily contact with their American counterparts to prepare for a possible trilateral meeting. "I can be more open after the New York meeting with President Trump," Zelenskyy said.
The visit took place against a backdrop of continued battlefield violence. Russian forces launched 149 drones overnight, while a strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad — an industrial rail and logistics hub serving a coal-mining region — killed at least four people and wounded more than 60. Kyiv also faced rare jet-drone strikes on a fuel station, the first such attack on that type of facility in the capital. Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range drones struck targets across multiple Russian regions, including a refinery in the Yamalo-Nenets area of Siberia — more than 3,000 kilometres from Ukraine — underscoring the expanding reach of domestically developed Ukrainian drone technology. Zelenskyy is scheduled to continue his Canadian visit with stops in Banff, Toronto and North Bay in northern Ontario.