Canada's PM Harper Says Showdown With Putin At G20 Was A Message To Say That It Cannot Be Business As Usual

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it would never drop the Ukraine issue to pressure Russia until it relents, even if it takes "5 months or 50 years." Harper's comments followed his reported showdown with the Russian president Vladimir Putin at the G 20 summit in Australia on the issue of Ukraine.

While speaking to the media later, Mr Harper faced a volley of questions related to his admonishment to Vladimir Putin with his famous quip "get out of Ukraine". Mr Harper said it was necessary to keep the pressure on Mr Putin and his regime and make it clear that "it will not be business as usual."

"We cannot allow a major power in this age to seize the sovereign territory of another country, and simply move on as if nothing has happened. If the world community eases up on Russia for its annexation of Crimea, it will only whet Putin's appetite for more such aggressions", Mr Haper said, according to a report in the Global News.

Showdown With Putin

Throwing more details, the CBC News quoted Mr Harper's spokesman Jason MacDonald, who said the Canadian leader told Mr Putin to "get out of Ukraine," when Mr Putin approached Mr Harper for a handshake at the leaders' retreat on Saturday morning.

"I guess I'll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine," Mr Harper reportedly told Mr Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Bloomberg that Harper's comment was "within the bounds of decency." Peskov also said Mr. Putin told Mr. Haper that it was impossible because Russia is not there in Ukraine", reported SBS Media.

Harper also described Putin's response to his smack down as "interesting." "To claim they haven't done any such thing, when we all know the truth, shows they are on the defensive. If you're actually proud of what you've done, go out and say it."

Economic Crisis

Harper has been a hard line critic of Mr Putin for many months, with Canada and Russia trading a number of retaliatory sanctions. On the sidelines of the G 20 summit, one economist warned the Ukraine conflict could spark another world financial crisis due to the relentless sanctions war between Russia and the West. "You can't generate growth in Europe unless you get Russian troops out of Ukraine and get Russia give back Crimea to Ukraine over the next five years," said John Kirton, a Canadian and co-director of the G20 Research Group.