G7 Summit | Canada will stress the growing threat of famine

(Kigali) Canada will bring the concerns of smaller Commonwealth countries to G7 leaders in Germany on Sunday, particularly the growing threat of famine, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr.^me Joly have been in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, since Wednesday for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where discussions focused on the concerns of nations suffering from food shortages.

Minister Joly said Canada is in “listening mode” within the Commonwealth, where leaders of small countries can speak out without the dominating presence of the United States, Russia and China.

Canada argues that Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated global food shortages. According to Mélanie Joly, Russia was targeting Ukrainian ports and grain silos, preventing grain from reaching the countries that need it.

“What is clear to us is that Russia is wreaking havoc in many countries around the world and putting 50 million lives at risk,” Minister Joly said Friday evening in Rwanda.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attempted to meet with African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat during the Commonwealth Summit, but the meeting was repeatedly postponed and ultimately cancelled.

Shortly after Mr. Trudeau’s arrival in Rwanda, the government announced that Canada would appoint a new ambassador to the African Union, which has suffered from food shortages inflicted on the continent following the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met with African Union officials as Russia blames sanctions on his country for the disruption in grain transportation.

For his part, Justin Trudeau will travel to the Bavarian Alps in Germany on Saturday evening for the G7 Summit, where the conflict with Ukraine will be a priority.

The Canadian foreign minister said she spoke with her G7 counterparts on Friday and expects starvation and the safe passage of Ukrainian refugees to be the main topics of discussion.

Prime Minister Trudeau also promised to put at the center of his international meetings the concerns of young leaders who spoke at a dialogue event on Saturday. They spoke of the devastating effects of climate change, especially around remote island nations where infrastructure cannot withstand natural disasters and reconstruction efforts take years.