Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used his arrival at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia to announce that Canada will provide an additional $500 million in military aid to Ukraine, in addition to imposing new sanctions against officials Russians.
Even before his arrival at the summit, which brings together many leaders of the biggest economic powers in the world, Mr. Trudeau had made it known that his main objective would be to denounce once again the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
He therefore chose to mark the occasion upon his arrival in Bali by making this announcement of new financial aid, which is in addition to the $500 million in military aid that had already been announced in the 2022 budget.
In a statement on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office explained that this new sum will be used to allow Ukraine to acquire military equipment, fuel and medical equipment necessary for its defense against Russian forces.
In addition to this new aid for military equipment, Canada sanctioned 23 members of the Russian justice and security sectors.
These people – police officers, prosecutors, judges and prison administration officials – are notably responsible for the reprisals against Vladimir Kara-Murza, “a courageous Russian dissident”, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,400 individuals and entities connected in any way to the war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Moreover, Mr. Putin is not present at the G20 summit; instead, Russia is represented by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. Mr. Trudeau has already mentioned that he does not really want to meet him.