(OTTAWA) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls for a de-escalation of violence in Ukraine in the aftermath of Russian artillery fire on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant by the Russian military. He is preparing to travel to the European continent next week to discuss the approach to take in this war, which has been going on for more than a week.
Posted at 12:22 p.m.
“We need to see great caution and a de-escalation of violence in general in Ukraine, but more particularly near nuclear power plants,” he said at a press conference on Friday. Bombing them would “aggravate this crisis” and create a “problem that no one wants to see”.
He was in Mississauga, Ontario, for a public transit announcement. He will later travel to Toronto to meet with members of the Ukrainian community.
The Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, is now occupied by the Russians. Thursday evening, Mr. Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to express “his deep concern” about the artillery fire that was launched there.
Prime Minister Trudeau urged Russia to immediately end its military activities in the region and pledged to continue to work together with our partners and allies.
Excerpt from the minutes of the discussion between Justin Trudeau and Volodymyr Zelensky
Since the start of the war on February 24, Canada has sent lethal and non-lethal military equipment to support Ukrainian fighters and imposed unprecedented economic sanctions with its allies. The Department of Immigration is also preparing to welcome many Ukrainian refugees.
The Prime Minister will travel to Europe next week to meet with his counterparts from Britain, Latvia, Germany and Poland. “Obviously we are going to discuss how we can continue to support Ukraine, how to strengthen democratic values elsewhere in the world, how to defend democracy even more, to oppose the aggression of Russia and to work really hard to fight disinformation. “, he listed.
NATO members, including Canada, again on Friday rejected Kyiv’s request to create a no-fly zone in Ukraine to avoid being drawn into this war. They want to avoid sending planes into Ukrainian skies to enforce it.
With Agence France-Presse