Russia issues demarche to Canadian diplomat over 'false accusations'

Russia on Friday summoned the deputy head of Canada's embassy in Moscow in connection with "false accusations" of allegedly planned "Russian sabotage" against NATO countries.

"On November 8, the Deputy Head of the Canadian diplomatic mission in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he was handed an official note in connection with false accusations of allegedly planned 'Russian sabotage' against NATO countries with the mailing, including to addressees in Canada, of explosives in postal correspondence," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ottawa has repeatedly accused Moscow of engaging in "malicious cyber activity" and had expressed concerns earlier this week about the Russian involvement in sending "camouflaged incendiary devices" aboard cargo planes.

"The (Canadian) diplomat was told that the said speculations, disseminated at the instigation of the United States and its satellites in the context of the hybrid war unleashed against Russia and the pumping up of the regime in Kyiv with modern weapons, as well as the participation of mercenaries from Canada in military actions on the side of the Kyiv regime with the blessing of the government of Justin Trudeau, indicate the probable preparation of a gross anti-Russian provocation," the Russian Foreign Ministry statement added.

Moscow warned that the responsibility for any escalation "under a false flag" will fall entirely on countries, including Canada, that are making "unacceptable accusations" against Russia.

"The Canadian side has been told that any hostile actions will not go unanswered – as they have not gone unanswered so far. The Canadian authorities must exercise prudence and refrain from harmful steps that deepen the confrontation with Russia," the Russian Foreign Ministry made it clear.

Russia-Canada relations have nosedived over the last few years with Moscow accusing the Justin Trudeau-led government of following a Russophobic course.

Last year, Russia gave a demarche to the Deputy Head of the Canadian Diplomatic Mission in Moscow after Canada's move to confiscate the An-124 cargo airliner, owned by the Volga-Dnepr company that was "illegally held" at the Toronto airport since February 2022.

In September 2023, the Canadian Parliament's recognition of a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War drew massive flak from several countries, including Russia which termed Trudeau's standing ovation as "outrageous".

"The hostile actions of the Canadian government, which has been trying to surpass the United States in its anti-Russia sanction rage by constantly extending the Russian stop list with more names of politicians, cultural figures and their family members, as well as entire education institutions, will certainly not be left without a response.

"We will not tolerate the fact that Canadian liberals are playing with Nazism and will take the necessary steps in the context of the Russia-Canada relations that are going through a crisis on an epochal scale through the official Ottawa’s fault," read a Russian Foreign Ministry statement in September 2023 after the Canadian Parliament honoured 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka during Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to the country.