Joly says Russian ambassador spreading war 'propaganda' to Canadians

Foreign Affairs Minister Mlanie Joly on Monday accused the Russian ambassador to Canada of spreading misinformation and propaganda to the Canadian public but said she has no plans to expel him from the country.

Joly described the increasingly frosty relationship between Ottawa and Russian ambassador Oleg Stepanov during an interview on CBC's Power & Politics.

She said Stepanov has sought to amplify Russian President Vladimir Putin's campaign of misinformation about the war, which the Kremlin has described as an operation to stamp out modern-day Nazism and defend Russia from Western imperialism.

"Unfortunately, the ambassador to Canada from Russia has been providing propaganda to the Canadian public and that is extremely problematic," she said from Berlin, a day after making a surprise visit to Kyiv to re-open the Canadian embassy.

"That being said, we know that the Canadianpublic is able to see through the lies of Vladimir Putin."

WATCH: Jolycalls Russia's war against Ukraine a failure

'Putin's war is a failure', says Foreign Affairs Minister Joly after official visit to Ukraine

2 years ago

Duration 12:05

After an official visit to Ukraine, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says President Vladimir Putin did not make an anticipated declaration of war - because his invasion "is a failure".

Joly said she spoke to Stepanov only once during the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February. Stepanov spoke on one other occasion to Joly's deputy minister Marta Morgan following reports of war crimes by the Russian military against civilians in Bucha.

Joly did not suggestanyplanto expel Stepanov from Canada in part because she said expelling the Russian diplomat likely would lead totheexpulsion of Canadian diplomats from Moscow.

Stepanov's office refuted Joly's comments about his communications to the Canadian public.

"His responsibility, among other things, is to convey his opinion and the position of Russia to the Canadian public," Stepanov's office wrote in an email to CBC News.

"Labelling serves nothing and often just demonstrates certain deficiencies of professionalism in diplomacy."

The Russian embassy said Stepanov is open to further meetings with Canadian officials "when one of the sides or both of them deem such level of communications useful."