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Ukraine: West wants to ‘avoid direct conflict’ with Russia, says Canada PM
Justin Trudeau has said that the focus will remain on punishing economic sanctions on Moscow including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Western nations opposing the attack on Ukraine want to “avoid” a “direct conflict” with Russia, thereby virtually ruling out the demand from the Volodymyr Zelensky government in Kyiv to impose a no-fly zone over his beleaguered country.
Trudeau made those comments at an event in the Greater Toronto Area town of Mississauga on Friday. He said, “The thing that we have so far avoided, and will continue to need to avoid, is a situation in which Nato’s forces are in direct conflict with Russian soldiers. That would be a level of escalation that is unfortunate.”
The focus will remain on punishing economic sanctions on Moscow including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, as Trudeau said they will “continue to impose punishing consequences” on them “until they understand just how terrible a mistake Putin has just made.”
Trudeau’s comments came ahead of his six-day solidarity visit Europe, beginning on Sunday, which will cover four countries. “During the visit, the Prime Minister will engage with close allies to build on our coordinated response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable military aggression against Ukraine,” a release from the prime minister’s office said.
He will arrive in London and meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and they will be joined by Dutch PM Mark Rutte, “to coordinate additional responses to Russia’s blatant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter”.
He will then visit Riga, the Latvian capital and meet Prime Minister Arturs Krisjanis Karins. Joining them will be the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, and the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Simonyte, “to work together on additional support for Ukraine and other shared priorities”.
Trudeau will also meet with Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg “to discuss the alliance’s response to Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine” and stress Canada’s “unwavering support for Nato’s eastern flank, and the importance of continued coordination and collaboration amongst allies and partners in their support of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.”
He will also interact with Canadian Armed Forces personnel stationed in Latvia as part of Operation Reassurance.
His next stop will be in Berlin to meet German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz before completing the trip in Warsaw, Poland, where he will meet 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”.
