Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday in Warsaw that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “made a big mistake” by attacking Ukraine and was going to lose the war he started.
“Vladimir Putin made a big mistake and will lose this war he started, because of the courage and the resilience and the inspiration that these brave Ukrainians offer. But also because of the unity, the firmness of the allied countries,” said Mr. Trudeau, repeating the same sentence in French and English, during a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
The allies “are not going to allow, cannot allow Putin to win after flouting international rules, targeting civilians, invading the neighboring country,” the prime minister continued.
“We will do everything, he insisted, to ensure that Putin faces severe consequences for his choices and for all the bad choices he could make in the days and weeks to come”.
According to him, Vladimir Putin “counted on the fact that in democracies it is sometimes difficult to get along, but he found instead a unity, a ferocity in our economic response which demonstrated how democracies can and will defend the principles on which they were founded”.
“Poland and Canada were among the countries that pushed hardest for us to act,” he said.
For his part, the Polish president also spoke out in favor of “multidirectional” and “lightning” sanctions intended to hit the Russian economy on the one hand and Vladimir Putin and his entourage on the other, whom he hopes will they will answer for their “war crimes” before the International Criminal Court.
“Unacceptable”
Mr. Trudeau also denounced the Russian offensives which affected apartment buildings and other sectors where civilians are.
“It is completely unacceptable. We are asking for an immediate ceasefire so that civilians can evacuate safely,” he said in French.
According to the United Nations, more than 500 civilians have been killed so far. On Wednesday, it was the images of women and children who survived the bombing of a children’s hospital in Ukraine that filled European airwaves and put a human face to this suffering for a continent reeling from the worst fighting since the Second World War.
The airstrike on the pediatric hospital in the port city of Mariupol injured pregnant women and left children buried in the rubble.
The World Health Organization says it has confirmed 18 attacks on medical facilities since Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago.
Donation matching up to $30 million
Canada will finally match up to $30 million in donations made to the Red Cross to help Ukrainians, Prime Minister Trudeau announced during his visit to Poland.
“We are increasing this from our original commitment of $10 million,” he said during his press briefing alongside the Polish president.
He also indicated that 50 million of the 100 million dollars already announced in humanitarian aid will be sent in immediate support where the needs are most critical.
Mr Trudeau arrived in Poland earlier on Thursday, where the majority of the roughly 2 million Ukrainians who fled Russia’s war on their country have sought refuge.
The Prime Minister met with his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki. “We are meeting at a turning point, which will probably determine and define the future for years, even decades,” the Polish prime minister told Mr. Trudeau shortly after arriving in Warsaw.
“The war and the refugee crisis it has created, but especially what is happening in Ukraine, is something unimaginable in the third decade of the 21st century. »
Mr. Morawiecki said he planned to talk to Mr. Trudeau about “how to get rid of Russian oil and gas and make the sanctions work really effectively.”
Trudeau praised Poland for its ‘extraordinary’ welcome to Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, and told his host how impressed he was with the Polish soldiers he met earlier this week at the base of NATO in Latvia, where Canada commands a multinational battle group.
The Canadian prime minister said they must “condemn very, very strongly the violation of international law” and the charters of the United Nations.
“The sanctions are tough and heavy and will last a very long time,” Trudeau said.
Before leaving Berlin, Trudeau gave a major foreign policy speech to a leading German think tank and took questions from an international audience, saying he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin would be once held accountable for war crimes before the International Criminal Court.
Canada’s doors open to Ukrainians
Trudeau said while Canada’s doors are wide open to Ukrainian asylum seekers, their first stop will be somewhere in Europe.
“Canada is a country that was built by people who fled war, persecution or who are simply looking to build a better life for themselves,” he said.
Danny Glenwright, president of Save the Children Canada, said there is grave concern for the more than one million children who have fled Ukraine so far. He said his organization has teams in Poland and neighboring countries to help refugees and is advocating with European Union officials and others to help children get to safety and protection.
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday that the government’s planning for a Canadian response to the European refugee crisis began late last year, as Mr Putin began to deploy more than 100,000 troops and military equipment to Ukraine’s borders.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada is working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees across Eastern Europe to find ways to bring refugees to Canada after have negotiated safe passage agreements. She said International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan was in Moldova to speak with the UN refugee agency to coordinate Canada’s response.
“These conversations are happening,” Ms. Joly said. “But at the same time, we have to get it right. »
In Warsaw, Mr. Trudeau must also meet the American vice-president, Kamala Harris, to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
This will be Mr Trudeau’s final stop on his four-nation European tour this week to discuss with allies how to increase pressure on Mr Putin’s regime.