Trudeau to visit allies in Europe to discuss Ukraine, will meet with the Queen

By Rachel Aiello, CTVNews.ca Politics Producer

Click here for updates on this story

    OTTAWA, Ontario (CTV Network) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to Europe next week for a series of meetings with other world leaders as the Russian attacks in Ukraine continue, and he will have an audience with the Queen.

Trudeau will be making stops in the United Kingdom, Latvia, Germany and Poland, he announced on Friday, to meet with partners and allies.

“We will be discussing how to continue to support Ukraine, how to strengthen democratic values around the world, and how to stand up even more for democracy and to stand against Russian aggression,” Trudeau said.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Trudeau will be abroad between March 6 and March 11, to “to further strengthen Canada’s solidarity with our European partners and allies in the face of Russia’s unwarranted invasion of Ukraine.”

The prime minister said that in the last several days there has been a “strong, seamless, co-ordinated response” from allied countries, and he’s looking forward to sitting down in-person to plot out what’s next and how to jointly combat the disinformation element of this war.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirmed that on Monday he will be meeting with Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London, where according to Trudeau’s office they will “coordinate additional responses to Russia’s blatant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.”

While in the United Kingdom, Trudeau will also have an audience with the Queen, who like Trudeau, has recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection.

Trudeau will then travel to Riga, Latvia, where he will meet with Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins and President Egils Levits, as well as with the prime ministers of Estonia and Lithuania. Trudeau will also meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during his time there.

Latvia is where Canadian Armed Forces members are taking part in NATO operation Reassurance, focused on training and deterrence efforts, and the prime minister also plans to meet with them.

From there, Trudeau will travel to Berlin to meet with Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The prime minister will then end his trip in Warsaw, Poland where he will meet with President Andrzej Duda “to further discuss security concerns in Eastern Europe and convey Canada’s support to Poland as it grapples with hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.”

Trudeau said that the West is inspired by Ukraine’s strength in defending its country, and allied countries are “united” in making sure Russian President Vladmir Putin’s “terrible mistake” of invading the sovereign nation will be “extremely costly.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.