Canada’s Joly: Ottawa Summoned Russian Envoy to Condemn Dnepr Attacks

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly told reporters that Canadian officials summoned the Russian ambassador to condemn the recent incident in Dnepr, Ukraine, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s comments.

“Today, my officials are summoning Russia's ambassador to Canada to make clear we do not accept the sheer brutality of Russia's recent attacks against civilians in [Dnepr], and to condemn face-to-face the antisemitic comments made by Russia's Minister Sergey Lavrov,” Joly said on Wednesday.

Joly confirmed the summons shortly after Russian envoy Oleg Stepanov relayed to Sputnik that he was invited to the Canadian Foreign Ministry at approximately 4 p.m. local time for an unknown reason.

On Saturday, a missile hit a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr, killing at least 40 people. Shortly after the incident, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said the building was damaged by debris from a Russian missile that was shot down by Ukrainian air defense.

Lavrov on Wednesday said the United States created a coalition of European countries to solve the so-called "Russian question" in the same way that Adolf Hitler sought to eradicate Jews in Europe.