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

A man allegedly pushed a stranger down a flight of stairs at a downtown SkyTrain station

A man allegedly pushed a stranger down a flight of stairs at a downtown SkyTrain station
One of the suspects followed the victim to the SkyTrain entrance and pushed him down a flight of stairs. As the victim was laying on the ground, the suspect allegedly kicked the victim before a passersby intervened. The suspect fled the area before police arrived.    

A man allegedly pushed a stranger down a flight of stairs at a downtown SkyTrain station

Poll suggests wide worries about inflation

Poll suggests wide worries about inflation
Four-fifths of respondents to the Leger poll had started or planned to buy cheaper items at the grocery store to save on food bills, and cut back on how much food they throw out to stretch every dollar.

Poll suggests wide worries about inflation

Hate crimes up 37 per cent in 2020: StatCan

Hate crimes up 37 per cent in 2020: StatCan
New data from Statistics Canada show the number of hate crimes reported to police across the country went up 37 per cent in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the previous year. The agency says 2,669 hate crimes were reported in 2020 — the highest number since comparable data became available in 2009.

Hate crimes up 37 per cent in 2020: StatCan

NACI favours Pfizer over Moderna vaccine for kids

NACI favours Pfizer over Moderna vaccine for kids
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has released new guidelines that favour giving kids a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine over the newly approved Moderna version. Health Canada approved Moderna's pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages six to 11 on Thursday.

NACI favours Pfizer over Moderna vaccine for kids

Bump in COVID-19 cases expected, says Tam

Bump in COVID-19 cases expected, says Tam
In Canada, the daily average number of people in hospital with COVID-19 declined by 11 per cent since last week, and the number of people in intensive care declined by 14 per cent.

Bump in COVID-19 cases expected, says Tam

Charest says Tories must pick 'adult in the room'

Charest says Tories must pick 'adult in the room'
Federal Conservatives and their supporters have long been calling for the removal of vaccine mandates for domestic air travellers, public servants and those working in federally regulated industries.

Charest says Tories must pick 'adult in the room'