Trudeau voices support for Ukraine following tense Trump-Zelenskyy meeting
CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau voiced support for Ukraine after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went completely off the rails.
Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday as the leaders met to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, access to the country's critical minerals and a potential ceasefire with Russia.
"For three years now, Ukrainians have fought with courage and resilience. Their fight for democracy, freedom and sovereignty is a fight that matters to us all," Trudeau wrote on X in the wake of the meeting.
"Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine and Ukrainians in achieving a just and lasting peace."
Multiple European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, also took to social media to signal their support for Ukraine.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said a ceasefire deal that doesn't include security guarantees for Ukraine could risk Russia re-arming and then invading its neighbour again.
"We believe in supporting Ukraine, our position has not changed. We think Ukrainians are fighting for their own freedoms and also fighting for ours," Joly told reporters Friday afternoon.
"Clearly, the Russians are noting the interaction that happened today and so our goal is to make sure we can continue to support Ukrainians and that we can keep very strong G7 unity amidst all this unpredictability," she said.
Neither Trudeau nor Joly mentioned Trump, and the prime minister didn't offer specific comments on the uneasy exchange between the two presidents.
The last 10 minutes of the nearly 45-minute engagement devolved into a tense back and forth after Zelenskyy urged skepticism about Russia's commitment to diplomacy, citing Moscow's years of broken commitments on the global stage.
Vance responded by telling Zelenskyy, "Mr. President, with respect. I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media."
"You're gambling with the lives of millions of people," Trump added. "You're gambling with World War III, and what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that's backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have."
"Your country's in big trouble … you're not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out of this OK because of us," Trump said before accusing the Ukrainian president of being reluctant to reach a ceasefire.
"Of course we want to stop the war but with [security] guarantees," Zelenskyy responded.
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