Rio de Janeiro –
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the final leaders’ statement from the G20 summit in Brazil was not strong enough on the Ukraine war.
He also expressed concern about the impact that President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House will have on global support for Ukraine.
Russia is a member of the G20, but President Vladimir Putin has not attended a summit since before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The G20 leaders’ final statement that year condemned Russia’s actions and called for its withdrawal from Ukraine.
A year later, the summit ended with diluted language about the war, and Brazil’s final statement today was even shorter and made no mention of Russia at all.
Trudeau said Canada and other G7 countries and “developed countries” wanted a stronger statement against “the illegal invasion of Ukraine,” but the G20 has a broader perspective.
“No, it’s not strong enough for me,” he said.
President Trump and his allies have criticized U.S. financial aid to Ukraine, and there are fears that Republicans, who will soon have full control of the White House and Congress, will significantly reduce U.S. aid to Ukraine. .
Some of President Trump’s allies strongly criticized outgoing President Joe Biden after he allowed Ukraine to use long-range U.S. missiles to attack inside Russia this week.
President Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and Utah Sen. Mike Lee were among those who accused Biden of trying to start “World War III.”
Trudeau and Biden discussed Ukraine during a 30-minute bilateral meeting in Brazil on Monday, and Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada supports Biden’s decision.
“I have been unable to attack Russian factories and military production sites in recent months, so I am very aware of how important it is to reduce the ability of the Russian military to attack Ukraine with impunity. “We’ve been talking about this,” Trudeau said at a news conference. Today is a conference from Rio de Janeiro.
“We’ve been asking for that for a while, so I think it’s good that the U.S. is doing it and other partners are doing it as well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2024.
