{"id":2487,"date":"2014-02-19T01:15:10","date_gmt":"2014-02-19T09:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=2487"},"modified":"2014-02-19T23:43:34","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T07:43:34","slug":"canada-signals-medical-aid-to-ukraine-activists-and-condemns-violence-baird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/02\/19\/canada-signals-medical-aid-to-ukraine-activists-and-condemns-violence-baird\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada signals medical aid to Ukraine activists and condemns violence: Baird"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"john<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: Facebook Page of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird<\/p>\n

OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says Canada will be providing further assistance to make medical care available for Ukrainian activists.<\/p>\n

In a release condemning the violence that left at least 18 dead in street battles in Kyiv on Tuesday, Baird said a contribution will be made to a Ukrainian non-governmental organization.<\/p>\n

A handful of anti-government protesters have taken shelter inside the Canadian embassy in Ukraine’s capital after riot police barged into a large opposition camp with stun grenades and water cannon.<\/p>\n

Fewer than a dozen protesters sought refuge Tuesday in the reception area of the embassy in Kyiv to escape the violent crackdown.<\/p>\n

Baird’s office says they are peaceful and have not caused any damage or harm to staff.<\/p>\n

Canadian embassy workers are safe and accounted for, spokesman Adam Hodge said.<\/p>\n

“We hope that the situation improves quickly so that they can safely leave the embassy premises at the earliest possible opportunity,” Hodge said in an email.<\/p>\n

“We expect these individuals to be able to leave the embassy safely, free from intimidation, arrest or further harassment.”<\/p>\n

Baird said the medical relief \u2014 up to $40,000 in addition to $21,000 provided last week \u2014 will ensure that treatment is provided to “the courageous activists injured while speaking out peacefully in support of democracy.”<\/p>\n

It’s only one step in Canada’s involvement, he added.<\/p>\n

“I will also be consulting our allies and like-minded nations to build a co-ordinated path forward in the coming days,” Baird said. “All options remain available, including through the deployment of targeted sanctions against those responsible.<\/p>\n

“Canada unequivocally condemns the violence that has led to the deaths of scores of Ukrainians.”<\/p>\n

The contribution will include medical supplies, first aid kits and training, his release stated.<\/p>\n

Thousands of police officers broke down barricades on the edge of Kyiv’s Independence Square.<\/p>\n

But they were repelled by 20,000 protesters armed with rocks, bats and fire bombs.<\/p>\n

The protests began last November after President Viktor Yanukovych’s froze ties with the European Union in exchange for a $15-billion bailout from Russia.<\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Facebook Page of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says Canada will be …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":2488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}