Canada slaps fresh sanctions on Russia

Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird. ©Reuters

Canada announced fresh sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, targeting four senior Russian army generals, a bank and five arms manufacturers, over Moscow's support for rebels in Ukraine, AFP reports.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said this 12th round of economic sanctions was motivated by Moscow's continued "aggression" in eastern Ukraine.

"For example, today we are seeing reports that President (Vladimir) Putin has ordered a surge of troops in Crimea, and we have seen no evidence of progress on our calls for the Putin regime to end its support to the armed militants fomenting violence," he said.

At the same time, Baird announced sending more than 300 observers, including up to 12 lawmakers, to Ukraine to monitor upcoming elections.