(Madrid) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau concluded his meeting with NATO leaders in Madrid on Friday by announcing additional Canadian military assistance to Ukraine and confirming that Canada would participate in the upcoming G20 summit. , although Russia should take part.
Posted at 8:16 a.m.
Updated at 8:31 a.m.
The prime minister first said Canada was in the final stages of talks to provide Ukraine with up to 39 armored combat support vehicles to help it fight Russia’s military. He also pledged to donate six Canadian-made drone cameras to Ukraine, to complement the shipment of some 20 cameras earlier this year.
The equipment purchase means Canada has now spent the $500 million set aside in Budget 2022 for military support to Ukraine.
The Prime Minister also said that Canada would attend the G20 summit scheduled to take place in Bali in November, even if Russian President Vladimir Putin was to attend.
Trudeau said he expects all of the G7 countries, which also include the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, to be in Bali. even if Russia, which is blamed for its invasion of Ukraine, remains a full member of the G20.
According to Mr. Trudeau, it is very important that a conversation on the global economy takes place at the G20 summit and that Canada, he added, must counter the voice that Russia will have around this table, and all the lies she would emit.
In addition, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that a new NATO Center of Excellence for Climate Change and Security will be located in Montreal.
On Wednesday, Canada signed an agreement to turn the NATO battlegroup it leads in Latvia into a brigade, although the federal government said it was too early to say whether that meant sending more of troops.
The Canadian-led NATO battlegroup is made up of approximately 2,000 soldiers, including 700 Canadians, and is one of eight such units based in Eastern Europe designed to prevent Russian invasions and to deter the attacks.
Prime Minister Trudeau will meet later Friday in Madrid with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez. The plane to bring him back to Canada should land at the very end of the evening at the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport in Ottawa.