OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is hosting his European Union counterpart, Catherine Ashton, for high-level talks today.
The visit of the EU's foreign policy chief comes as a fragile ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine continues to hold.
There are also reports of possible additional EU sanctions against Russia in response to the clash between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebel separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Last month, Canada imposed a new round of sanctions and travel bans on several top Russian and Ukrainian politicians and groups with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin in co-ordination with the United States and the EU.
Russia has retaliated with its own sanctions that mainly targeted Canada's pork exports, which federal government figures say amounted to $563 million in 2012.
On the economic front, the final text of the comprehensive trade and investment pact between Canada and the EU has still yet to be finalized, and most of the details have not been formally released.
