Arctic security and the war in Ukraine were Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s main concerns on Sunday upon his arrival in Iceland, where he will be the guest of the Nordic summit over the next two days.
Mr. Trudeau will be joined by the leaders of Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Leaders from Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands are also present. His cabinet said his presence will be an opportunity to increase collaboration between Canada and the Nordic countries on important issues, ranging from environmental protection to the development of clean energy, including the resolution of security issues.
The talks will come just over two weeks before the leaders travel to Lithuania to meet their NATO allies and discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
At the start of his bilateral meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Trudeau said recent events in Russia will take up much of the talks during the summit.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Russia. It has become complex over the past two days,” he admitted.
Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led the troops of his private paramilitary group Wagner in an armed rebellion. His uprising appeared poised to threaten President Vladimir Putin’s grip on Russia, but tensions eased quickly on Saturday when the Kremlin announced it had reached a deal that ended the advance of Prigozhin’s troops towards Russia. capital, Moscow.
After arriving in Iceland, Mr. Trudeau discussed the situation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky and the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Zelensky said he reserved the first of a series of important calls for the Canadian prime minister. He thanked Trudeau for his surprise visit to Kyiv earlier this month. He also added that he wanted his attention on the threatening situation created by the occupation of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia.
Trudeau’s office said the two leaders “discussed Ukraine’s current military and financial needs, as well as Canada’s contributions to strengthening Ukraine’s security and stability.” The Prime Minister also reiterated Canada’s commitment to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.
The Prime Minister and the President discussed developments in the security situation in Russia, which they continue to follow closely.
The Icelandic government has said ‘societal resilience’ will be at the heart of discussions at the summit, which will take place on a group of islands known as Vestmannaeyjar and coincide with the 50th anniversary of a volcanic eruption. in this location.
“There is continuous cooperation between these countries,” recalled Roland Paris, who is a former adviser to Mr. Trudeau and who is now director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, regarding the leaders meeting in Iceland.
“The Arctic is becoming more and more strategically important as the ice melts. Each of these northern countries has a very clear interest in ensuring the security and sovereignty of their territory,” he explained.
More difficult without Russia
The Nordic countries, including Canada and the United States, have interrupted their collaboration with Russia through the Arctic Council since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, which has seriously changed the picture of cooperation. international community in the region, underlined Mr. Paris.
For his part, the director of the Observatory for Arctic Policy and Security, Mathieu Landriault, confirmed that the situation remained “fragile”, adding that without collaboration with Russia – which has a huge Arctic coastline -, the council is deprived of a lot of data on how climate change is affecting much of the region.
Landriault suggested that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused Canada to “reassess” its position in the Arctic.
NATO is also paying increasing attention to the Arctic in light of aggression from Russia and China, Paris added.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned of such threats during a visit to a military base in northern Alberta last summer. He then noted that China had proclaimed itself a “close to the Arctic” state and that climate change was opening up its access to the region.
Mr. Trudeau, who accompanied Mr. Stoltenberg during this visit to Alberta, took the opportunity to announce his intention to invest several billion dollars to strengthen the presence of the Canadian army in the region, in particular by modernizing the aging North American Aerospace Defense Command system, which also monitors Arctic airspace.
Paris expects Trudeau to draw attention to those same commitments when he visits Iceland.
“The fact is that we are behind in securing the Arctic in a world where this area will increasingly be a source of geopolitical competition,” he observed.
Several areas of collaboration
Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway have all expressed support for Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.
All of these countries are part of NATO, with the exception of Sweden, which is trying to join. Canada was the first country to ratify its request. He also supported Finland’s membership, which was officially admitted in April.
According to Mr. Landriault, this meeting in Iceland is an opportunity for Canada and the Nordic countries to demonstrate their support for Sweden’s entry into NATO, which Turkey and Hungary have not approved.
In addition to a common interest in security, the Canadian government also has commercial interests with the five Nordic countries. Merchandise trade between Canada and the Nordic countries was worth $13 billion last year.
Canada is also home to the largest number of Icelandic immigrants and descendants outside of this country.
The two countries consider that they share the same ideas and interests on a range of issues, including the development of carbon capture and storage technology and the protection of the oceans.