As the world continues to grapple with the potential consequences — and wider implications — of the United States-led military strike on Venezuela over the weekend, Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Paris for two days of high-level closed-door talks with “fellow members of the Coalition of the Willing” that, according to his office, will “accelerate efforts towards a negotiated peace for Ukraine, supported by strong security guarantees.”

The meeting is set to take place a little over a week after Carney hosted a brief tête-à-tête with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Halifax, where, as Canadian Press reports, Carney “announced $2.5 billion in financing and loan guarantees.”

Although not officially on the agenda, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the latest developments in Venezuela wouldn’t come up for discussion, and there are already calls for the assembled leaders to “end a strong signal to the United States …. that they do not support President Donald Trump’s flouting of international law through a military strike on Venezuela that seized its leader,” according to The Globe and Mail.

In an interview with the Globe, Carleton University professor Fen Hampson suggested that it’s “in their interest to send a firm message to Washington, because otherwise it undermines the whole Ukraine strategy and the principles of defending Ukrainian sovereignty,” the paper notes.

“It is not in our interest to revert to the law of the jungle and it is not in the interests of the other countries that are meeting in Paris to revert to the law of the jungle,” Hampson added.

“It’s time to send a message to Washington: We don’t like this.”

On Sunday evening, Carney announced via social media that he had spoken with Venezuelan opposition leader — and Nobel Peace Prize laureate — María Corina Machado, and had “affirmed Canada’s support for a peaceful, Venezuelan-led transition of power — one that respects the democratic will of the Venezuelan people.”

IN THE CHAMBER

The House of Commons and the Senate are currently on hiatus. Regular parliamentary business will resume on Jan. 26, 2026.

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Committee highlights courtesy of our friends at iPoliticsINTEL