After his visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York, this Tuesday, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is preparing to make a trip to Canada in the coming days to meet, among others, the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, confirmed at Duty a diplomatic source.
The meeting is to be held Friday in Ottawa, where the Ukrainian leader plans to deliver a speech to members of Parliament. His visit to Canada will also include a stop in Toronto.
This is the first visit to Canada for Volodymyr Zelensky since the start of the invasion war launched in February 2022 by Russia against the former Soviet republic. It gives the Ukrainian president the opportunity to once again demonstrate the solid alliance forged between Canada and Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky should take advantage of this in-person visit to the capital to thank Canadians for their help and support in the face of Russian aggression.
Justin Trudeau has visited Kiev twice since the start of the year, the last time in June to announce military support worth $500 million. In total, Canada offered $1.8 billion worth of military equipment and training aid to Ukrainian troops in the wake of the war launched more than 573 days ago by the Kremlin against its neighbor.
This contribution includes, among other things, eight Leopard 2A4 battle tanks delivered at the beginning of the year, 200 armored vehicles shipped this summer as well as air defense missiles and a national advanced surface-to-air missile system (NASAMS) currently being delivered.
Ottawa did not officially confirm Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to Canadian soil on Tuesday. The visit was initially highlighted by the Globe and MailEarlier in the day.
Before the United Nations General Assembly in the afternoon, the Ukrainian president reminded the world that the ongoing conflict on his territory goes far beyond the borders of his small country and called for the unity of the world’s democracies to preserve “global peace”. “We must stand up against this aggression today to deter other aggressors tomorrow,” he said while denouncing the violence of Vladimir Putin’s regime towards Ukraine. He pointed to the use of grain exports, attacks on the Ukrainian electricity grid as well as the kidnappings of thousands of children as weapons used by the Russians to bring Ukraine to its knees.
Volodymyr Zelensky also invited the members of the assembly to a world summit for peace on which he said he had been working for more than a year, without specifying the date. “Important discussions and exchanges took place in Hiroshima, Copenhagen and Jeddah on the implementation of a peace plan,” he said, announcing that the details of this plan will be presented to the Council on Wednesday. UN Security Council.
According to him, 140 states and international organizations would fully or partially support his 10-point road map to peace, the outlines of which he presented last year. The plan aspires to make “Ukrainian peace, world peace,” the president said.
In March 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky had already addressed Canadian parliamentarians by videoconference. He called on Canada to support a no-fly zone over Ukraine, the day after Russia invaded his country.
Canada has maintained close relations with Ukraine, particularly since the election of Volodymyr Zelensky as president in 2019. The former comedian and actor turned warlord made his first official visit to Canada in July of that same year. . He met Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, on the sidelines of his participation in the Ukraine Reform Conference, a major international meeting on the future of Ukraine. Ukraine, which was held in Toronto.