Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a shock go to to Kyiv on Sunday, the place he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and briefly toured a blackened, bombed-out suburban neighborhood.
He additionally reopened the Canadian Embassy and welcomed the ambassador again to the embattled capital. Trudeau was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Overseas Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and an armed safety detachment.
The go to got here on the identical day that Russian missiles pounded the southern port metropolis of Odesa, and there was heavy combating within the japanese a part of the nation, together with round Kharkiv, the second-largest metropolis in Ukraine.
Trudeau visited the town of Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, which was the scene of a number of the heaviest combating in March as Russian forces tried to storm the capital.
Ukrainian troops successfully halted the advance within the space and pushed again the invasion drive.
I’m in Ukraine with <a href=”https://twitter.com/cafreeland?ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>@cafreeland</a> and <a href=”https://twitter.com/melaniejoly?ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>@melaniejoly</a> as we speak. We’re right here to indicate our help for Ukraine and its individuals. Our message to President <a href=”https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa?ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>@ZelenskyyUa</a> and Ukrainians is that this: Canada will at all times stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Extra to come back on our go to.
—@JustinTrudeau
Trudeau’s go to was carried out underneath a information blackout. Nevertheless, photographs of his go to to Irpin have been posted on Twitter by the town’s mayor, who met with the prime minister. Trudeau’s go to got here on the identical day G7 leaders have been set to debate the battle in Ukraine, conferences by which Trudeau and Zelensky took half.
In a communiqué issued after the talks, the leaders condemned Russia — which was kicked out of the group in 2014 — and promised “full solidarity and help for Ukraine’s brave defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The G7 leaders started their assertion by marking Victory in Europe Day, the anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany within the Second World Warfare, a day that is widely known on Could 9 in Russia and Ukraine.
Seventy-seven years after the tip of the battle, the G7 leaders mentioned, “President [Vladimir] Putin and his regime now selected to invade Ukraine in an unprovoked battle of aggression in opposition to a sovereign nation. His actions carry disgrace on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its individuals.”
There’s concern that Russia will use its Victory Day occasion on Monday to mobilize its inhabitants in help of escalating the battle in Ukraine.
The G7 leaders additionally promised on Sunday “additional commitments to assist Ukraine safe its free and democratic future,” together with motion on army help, sanctions, cyber defence, monetary help and human rights violation investigations.
“We stay united in our resolve that President Putin should not win his battle in opposition to Ukraine. We owe it to the reminiscence of all those that fought for freedom within the Second World Warfare, to proceed combating for it as we speak, for the individuals of Ukraine, Europe and the worldwide neighborhood.”
