U.S. ‘unable to step up’ on Ukraine aid, leaving Canada to fill the gap, says Freeland [Video]

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada’s commitment to Ukraine has been an important contribution to NATO’s strength at a time when the United States has been “unable to step up” on aid to the embattled country.

Freeland was responding to a question about Canada’s efforts to meet NATO’s military spending target for member nations — two per cent of GDP — in an interview airing Saturday on CBC’s The House.

Asked whether Canada would increase spending in the forthcoming April 16 federal budget, Freeland declined to give an answer either way. She told host Catherine Cullen that Canada’s per capita commitments to Ukraine — which she called “NATO’s most pressing challenge” — had been very significant.

“In March, Canada sent $2 billion in urgent budget financing support to Ukraine at a time when the U.S. — and this is maybe something you could ask the U.S. ambassador about — at a time when …