By Jacki Thrapp

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Dec. 27 that Canada will provide an additional $2.5 billion in economic aid for Ukraine.

Carney revealed the plans to help the war-torn country on Saturday after an in-person meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“When I stood with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Ukraine’s Independence Day this year, I made clear that Canada will stand with Ukraine throughout this horrific war and when peace finally comes,” Carney wrote in a statement released after the meeting.

“To those ends, Canada has committed new support to Ukraine, not only to help end this war, but also to help the Ukrainian people recover and rebuild.”

The money will help finance a series of “new measures to support a just and lasting peace,” such as reconstruction and development of Ukraine’s gas and energy industry, the press release shared.

“Canada stands with Ukraine, because their cause—freedom, democracy, sovereignty—is our cause,” Carney added.

Canada had so far spent $22 billion in assisting Ukraine, with $12 billion in direct financial support, since Russia invaded nearly four years ago, the prime minister’s office said.

Zelenskyy thanked Carney for Canada’s support shortly after Saturday’s meeting, which marked the Ukrainian president’s second trip to Canada in 2025.

“It is important that Canada has announced a new assistance package today. It is important that we share common positions on many key issues,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Saturday’s meeting in Canada occurred hours after Ukraine’s capital was targeted in overnight strikes by Russian ballistic missiles and drones.

The attacks killed at least one person and wounded 27 others.

“Since last night, there have been almost 500 drones—a large number of ‘shaheds’—as well as 40 missiles, including Kinzhals,” Zelenskyy confirmed in an X post.

“The primary target is Kyiv—energy facilities and civilian infrastructure. Regrettably, there have been hits, and ordinary residential buildings have been damaged. Rescuers are searching for a person trapped under the rubble of one of them. In some districts of the capital and the region, electricity and heating are currently unavailable”

Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump in Florida on Dec. 28.

The Ukrainian leader told reporters that he and Trump plan to discuss security guarantees, territorial issues, and a draft political framework for ending the years-long conflict with Russia.

The framework is “90 percent ready” but Zelenskyy didn’t confirm if it would be finalized by the end of 2025.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said peace negotiations with Washington were making “slow but steady progress.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.