Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a news conference after a tour of the site of NATO Exercise Cold Response in Bardufoss, Norway, on March 13.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney has joined the leaders of Germany and Norway in opposing the move by the United States to ease sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.
On Thursday, the U.S. issued a 30-day waiver allowing countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products that have been stranded in tankers at sea. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move was designed to address the soaring price of oil, which has climbed more than 40 per cent since the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran.
“Canada’s position is to maintain sanctions on Russia, including on the shadow fleet which is moving this oil,” Mr. Carney said Friday at a joint press conference in Bardufoss, Norway, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
“There has been very tight co-operation between Russia and Iran, at great cost to the people of Ukraine and a great threat to peace and security in Europe,” Mr. Carney said.
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Mr. Merz said that during a G7 leaders’ conference on Wednesday – involving leaders from Canada, the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and France – all but the U.S. agreed that “we should not release the sanctions against Russia.”
Nonetheless, the Chancellor said, “We were a little bit surprised that we heard this morning that the American government decides differently. This is definitely not our view,” he added. “We should put more pressure on Russia to bring this terrible war to an end as soon as possible.”
Mr. Store agreed: “There should be no pressure on the energy side taken off Russia. It needs to be consistent, and it needs to be felt from the Russian side so that they will come to the negotiation table.”
Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Mr. Carney look at a unmanned combat vehicle made by the Estonian company Milrem Robotics during a visit at the Bardufoss Airbase.JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images
The three leaders met near a military base in Bardufoss, in northern Norway, to watch a NATO exercise called Cold Response. The exercise, first held in 2006, is conducted in the High Arctic every two years and involves 32,000 troops from 14 countries. Canada’s contingent consists of a group of Special Operations Forces soldiers.
The leaders watched a brief demonstration by the German Mountain Infantry Brigade involving Leopard tanks, snowmobiles, armored vehicles and drones.
The exercise has taken on renewed significance this year in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threat to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark. Mr. Trump has asserted that the U.S. must acquire Greenland for security reasons and fend off challenges in the Arctic from Russia and China.
Canada has joined other NATO countries in insisting that Greenland’s future must be decided by the Greenlandic people and Denmark. But NATO has put more emphasis on Arctic security.
“This is an incredibly important exercise for Canada,” Mr. Carney said Friday. However, he said the U.S. remains a trusted ally and close partner in North American security.
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Girouard, the commanding officer for the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, said the exercise offers invaluable training for cold-weather operations. “It allows us to rehearse and build capability in the area of operations that we may be responsible to operate in as a part of our NATO remit,” he told reporters.
Mr. Carney exits an armoured personnel vehicle on March 13.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Throughout the day, Mr. Carney was gently lobbied by Mr. Merz and Mr. Store to select a German bid for 12 submarines Canada intends to buy.
The government is weighing bids for the $40-billion contract from German naval shipbuilder TKMS, and South Korea’s Hanwha Group. Norway has purchased the German submarines, and it is backing the TKMS proposal.
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Mr. Store stressed the value of NATO allies working together on projects like the submarine contract. “So, when Norway and Germany are integrating on submarines and on tanks, it means also very strong political integration between mature and trusted allies,” he told the press conference.
Mr. Merz said he was “very much hoping that we can convince the Canadian partners to do what we want to see.”
Mr. Carney said Canada was running “a clear, consistent and transparent” selection process. “We’re in the final stages of that and we’re blessed by having options, including the German-Norwegian offer.”
Mr. Carney flew back to Oslo Friday evening. He will hold meetings with Mr. Store on Saturday and attend a cross-country ski race. On Sunday, he will join the Norwegian Prime Minister and leaders from Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland in a Nordic-Canada Summit in Oslo.