Canada is aiming to announce around 10 founding nations for a global defence bank at next week's NATO summit in Turkiye.
Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is promoting the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) as part of his call this year for an alliance of "middle powers" to combat what he sees as the fracturing of the traditional U.S.-led world order.
"We gave ourselves the NATO summit as a deadline ... What we are aiming to announce is the list of founding members," Isabelle Hudon, Canada's top negotiator in the launch of the multilateral initiative and CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, said in an interview.
The bank's purpose is to bolster the defence of allied nations by raising up to £100 billion ($133 billion) in cheap finance.
Hudon said the initial roster of countries would likely all be European, besides Canada, but declined to name them. She cautioned the announcement was not guaranteed and depended on final negotiations with allies, including over their capital commitments, but said the project had momentum.
The proportional contributions could result in Canada contributing up to €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion), with smaller nations paying between €500 million and €750 million, a source familiar with the matter said.