Ottawa plans to help Ukraine’s beleaguered armed forces by providing them with high-resolution images from Canada’s powerful RADARSAT-2 satellite, CTV News has learned.

Twice a day, the satellite will cross over Ukraine, providing precise details on what is happening on the ground -- day or night. That will allow the Ukrainians to redeploy their troops and use them more strategically against Russian-backed separatists.

The satellite is “really good at detecting military hardware,” Retired Col. Andre Dupuis of Space Strategies Consulting told CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife.

The stakes are high because there is no guarantee that the current ceasefire between Ukraine and the rebels will hold. If the ceasefire fails, the U.S. could move to arm the Ukrainian forces.

The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met in Minsk Thursday to try to negotiate an end to the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine. The talks come amid intense fighting in recent weeks.

If the U.S. ends up supplying Ukraine with lethal arms, Canada may do the same. New defence minister Jason Kenney said that Ottawa is in “very close contact with our allies to see what the next steps might be.”

With a report from CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife