Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Trudeau calls on EU to further aid Ukraine

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Mar, 2022 09:54 AM
  • Trudeau calls on EU to further aid Ukraine

BRUSSELS - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making a plea to European leaders to come together as democracies in the face of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and tackle rising uncertainties citizens have about the future.

Speaking to European parliamentarians this afternoon, the prime minister says those economic uncertainties have percolated for years, but are now stoked by rising global inflation.

Trudeau says economic frustrations are threatening the stability of the world and driving a deep uncertainty about the future and distrust of government.

He also says democracies face a new threat from Russian President Valdimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

Trudeau says Canada stands with the people of Ukraine as Europe confronts its biggest security threat since the Second World War.

He says Western countries must collectively provide more humantarian aid for families affected by the war, send military equipment and lethal aid to Ukraine, and further tighten economic sanctions on Putin and his enablers in Russia and Belarus.

The speech comes on the first day of a whirlwind trip to Brussels and Trudeau's second visit to the continent this month.

The speech is Trudeau's second to European parliamentarians, following a 2017 address that was meant as a shot in the arm for a continent reeling from Britain's vote a year earlier to leave the European Union amid the election of Donald Trump in the United States.

Two weeks ago, Trudeau developed a similar theme in a speech to an international audience at the Munich Security Conference, where he called for a recommitment to democracy in the face of rising authoritarianism.

The speech was a sequel of sorts to the 2017 address the prime minister gave in Hamburg, Germany, that outlined his foreign-policy vision and his often professed faith in the rules-based international order.

Trudeau will join other NATO leaders on Thursday to co-ordinate the military alliance's response to Russia's attack on Ukraine and will meet with fellow G7 leaders before returning to Canada on Friday.

Trudeau toured Europe two weeks ago, where he held meetings in London, Berlin, Warsaw and Poland, and visited Canadian troops leading a NATO multinational battlegroup in Latvia.

Trudeau will face pressure to boost Canada's defence budget, which according to NATO estimates stands at 1.39 per cent of the country's gross domestic product in 2021.

"Ukraine is helping to make spending on defence more palatable for Canadians," said Andrea Charron, director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba.

"I think we need ground-based, anti-aircraft defence capabilities desperately and a replacement for the (CF-18 fighter jets)."

Prior to leaving Ottawa on Tuesday, Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about "further international assistance ahead of the upcoming NATO and G7 meetings," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

"Both leaders called on Russia to stop targeting civilians, to withdraw its military forces from Ukraine, and to engage in diplomacy with Ukraine."

In a tweet, Zelenskyy said he specifically spoke about the "humanitarian catastrophe" unfolding in the besieged city of Mariupol, and "the importance of effective security guarantees" for Ukraine.

MORE National ARTICLES

Ukraine response means 'heartbreaking' choices: PM

Ukraine response means 'heartbreaking' choices: PM
A defiant Zelenskyy, clad in his trademark olive-green military T-shirt, evoked some of the darkest memories in American history Wednesday as he urged members of the U.S. Congress to shutter the skies over his besieged country.    

Ukraine response means 'heartbreaking' choices: PM

Federal parties subject to B.C. privacy law: order

Federal parties subject to B.C. privacy law: order
The decision from the office of B.C.'s privacy commissioner asserts that federal parties are also subject to the province's privacy law when it comes to the collection, use and disclosure of the personal information of B.C. residents.

Federal parties subject to B.C. privacy law: order

Zelenskyy pleads for more help from Canada

Zelenskyy pleads for more help from Canada
"Every night is a horrible night," he said, speaking in Ukrainian, to a crowded House of Commons where almost every MP, many senators and dozens of members of the public gathered to listen.

Zelenskyy pleads for more help from Canada

Governor General meets Queen in person

Governor General meets Queen in person
The Queen wore a sapphire brooch given to her by former governor general David Johnston in 2017 to mark her 65th anniversary. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is being commemorated across the Commonwealth this year.

Governor General meets Queen in person

B.C., Washington to work on flooding plan

B.C., Washington to work on flooding plan
Flooding in southern B.C. and northern Washington in November displaced an estimated 500 people south of the border and about 14,000 were forced to flee their homes on the Canadian side.    

B.C., Washington to work on flooding plan

237 COVID19 cases for Tuesday

237 COVID19 cases for Tuesday
There are 345 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 50 are in intensive care. In the past 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,946.

237 COVID19 cases for Tuesday