(OTTAWA) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will fly to the European continent on Sunday to discuss the approach to take in the war launched by Russia in Ukraine, which has lasted for more than a week. He called on Friday for a de-escalation of violence in the aftermath of artillery fire launched on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant by the Russian army.
Posted at 12:22 p.m.
Updated at 6:02 p.m.
He will meet his counterparts from the United Kingdom, Latvia, Germany and Poland to discuss, among other things, ways to counter the disinformation conveyed by Russia to justify its war in Ukraine.
“Of course, 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 Russian aggression and to work really hard to fight misinformation,” he said at a press conference. Disinformation that “was part of this war in Ukraine long before it started”.
The prime minister was in Mississauga, Ont., for a public transit announcement and was scheduled to travel to Toronto later to meet with members of the Ukrainian community.
“The sanctions work. Russia is in shock, he said. […] We see an unprecedented cost associated with this misguided decision, this appalling mistake by Vladimir Putin to violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a neighboring country. »
His journey will begin in London, UK, where he will meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss measures that could have the “maximum impact on Russia”, according to a member of his entourage. Mr. Trudeau will also have an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, who recently recovered from COVID-19.
He will then travel to Riga, Latvia, on Tuesday, where more than a thousand Canadian soldiers are stationed as part of Operation Reassurance in support of NATO. In addition to meeting with his Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian counterparts, Mr. Trudeau will discuss with the secretary general of this defensive alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, the reaction to the Russian attack in Ukraine.
His third stop will be Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz. It will discuss the situation in Ukraine, climate change and energy supply in this country dependent on Russian gas. In the House of Commons, the Conservatives are using this as an argument for approving a new pipeline that would export fossil fuels from Alberta.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s trip will end in Poland, where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have flocked since the start of the war. The Canadian government announced Thursday that it would accelerate the reception of these refugees in the country.
Trudeau calls for de-escalation
“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”.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, is now occupied by the Russians, according to the Ukrainian government. On Thursday evening, Trudeau and Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to express their “deep concern” about the artillery fire that had just taken place there. be launched.
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.
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.
“By not reacting quickly and by projecting its weakness, the world is encouraging Putin to continue with his plans to annihilate Ukraine and its people,” reacted the Ukrainian Canadian Congress on Friday.
The Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party are calling for the list of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by Canada to be extended.
“There is a whole series of oligarchs who are still escaping sanctions,” observed Bloc Québécois MP Stéphane Bergeron in an interview. “Some own large shares of Canadian companies, and maybe that’s why they still get away with it. »
“The Canadian government must stop being reluctant to sanction Putin’s inner circle, and we once again urge the Liberal government to target these ultra-wealthy Russian oligarchs,” said NDP MP Heather McPherson.
With Agence France-Presse