Canada will send at least 100 anti-tank weapons and 2,000 rockets to Ukraine to help bolster their defence against increasingly aggressive Russian military advances, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, writes the National Post.

During a press conference, Trudeau announced a flurry of new sanctions against Russia and Russian-backed organizations as well as new supports for Ukraine, including fast-tracking the application program for Ukrainian refugees seeking to flee to Canada.

He also confirmed that Canadian banks were now barred from conducting any transactions with the Russian Central Bank, a move taken along a host of G7 and NATO allies.

The prime minister announced that Canada would also ban the import of Russian crude oil going forward, although none has entered the country since 2019. He did not say that the ban would extend to Russian refined petroleum.

“Even if Canada has imported very limited quantities these past years, this measure sends a powerful message”, - Trudeau said, noting that the crude oil sector has benefitted Russian President and his oligarch allies “greatly”.

“The Russian government is now experiencing the severity of our coordinated sanctions. It is increasingly clear that President Putin has made a grave miscalculation. Today, the ruble plunged to record lows and the Russian stock market was forced to close”, - Trudeau said.