Trudeau says Ukraine must be included in negotiations after exclusion from U.S.-Russia talks
CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it's essential that Ukraine be included in peace negotiations after U.S. and Russian officials met to start discussing a possible end to the war in eastern Europe.
"It's a fundamental principle for Canada, and for the vast majority of our allies, that nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," Trudeau said when asked about the U.S.-Russia talks during a news conference on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov were among the officials that met in the Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh on Tuesday. Ukrainian officials were not involved.
The meeting came just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he'd spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a move that upended existing U.S. policy, shocked European leaders and raised questions about what may come next — including from Ukrainians.
"Ukrainians have been fighting and dying — not just to protect their sovereignty, their territorial integrity — they're also fighting to protect the rules-based order that keeps us all safe around the world," Trudeau said Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to signal his displeasure about being left out of the talks by saying he would postpone a trip to Saudi Arabia that was otherwise supposed to occur on Wednesday.
Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted Zelenskyy involved in the talks in Riyadh, but that the U.S. and Russia preferred to meet without Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has already said that Ukraine will not accept any peace deals "made behind our backs without our involvement."
Other European leaders have also expressed concerns about being excluded from talks between Russian and U.S. officials. Trudeau is set to join a virtual meeting with the heads of European countries on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine.
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) says that more than 40,000 Ukrainian civilians have been injured or killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Despite Russia's aggression, Trump appeared to blame Ukraine for the start of the war during a news conference on Tuesday.
"You've been there for three years," Trump said, referring to concerns that Ukraine had been excluded from talks between Russia and the U.S. "You should've never started it. You could have made a deal."
The U.S. president's comments come after Pete Hegseth, Trump's defence secretary, said last week that a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is unrealistic.
Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Trump is living in a Russian-made "disinformation space" as a result of his administration's discussions with Kremlin officials.
Six months after passing a law aimed at making it easier for new grocery stores to open, Manitoba's premier says lower grocery bills could be on the horizon.
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.
Thoroughbred horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse is ending after more than a century, with the operator announcing Friday it will no longer run a racing season at the historic facility.
A memorial to remember lives lost to gender-based violence was held in Charlottetown Friday, ahead of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is marked annually on Dec. 6.
A Calgary dentist who defrauded five insurance companies over a decade should spend up to three years in prison, the prosecution argued Friday.
B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it has called off its search for a bear responsible for an attack on a group of school children in Bella Coola, B.C. on Nov. 20.
The union president called it a rally for solidarity as Iqaluit Housing Authority employees gathered Friday while negotiations are ongoing between the Nunavut Employees Union and the employer.
The federal government is stoking Quebec separatism by walking back its climate commitments — including in its recent deal with Alberta — Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Four more Alberta MLAs are facing recall petitions organized by their constituents, including the first NDP representative to be caught in the province's ongoing wave of recall efforts.
Frank Gehry, the Canadian-born renegade architect behind some of the world's most recognizable buildings, has died at 96.
Hundreds of P.E.I. parents can't find child-care spaces, especially for infants. The provincial government says expanding those spots remains a top priority — and it recognizes the concern.
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
The architect of Alberta's politician recall legislation says it was never meant to be used as a political weapon, but as an "ultimate tool of accountability" if a politician engages in illegal or unethical behaviour.