Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Poland. First he met President Andrej Duda. In the morning, Trudeau was received by Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the Prime Minister's Office. After the conversation, the heads of government appeared at a press conference. During that, Tusk talked about, among other things, that the West should transfer “300 billion dollars” of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
Canada and Poland share the same position on geopolitical and strategic issues, including support for Ukraine and “the future of our region,” Tusk said after the meeting with Trudeau. – Ukraine needs our help in the war with Russia – he emphasized and “there are at least several opportunities to significantly increase the pressure on Russia.”
– All Western countries must act more decisively. Today we talked at length about, among other things, the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank in Western banks. (…) We will work with the Prime Minister and our friends in Europe, America, Japan to decide on the use of these funds for Ukraine, Tusk said.
Such a move is, in his opinion, “an obvious thing” and he emphasized that “we are talking about 300 billion dollars that can and should be used to benefit Ukraine in the defense of Ukraine against Russian aggression.”
Donald Tusk, Justin TrudeauPiotr Novak/PAB
Tusk: Thank you for understanding the other contexts of this situation
Tusk said he touched on “other consequences of the war” in his conversation with Trudeau.
– Canada and Poland have similar experiences when it comes to hosting Ukrainian women and men. You have almost a million and a half Ukrainians in Canada, almost twice as many here. It creates a certain kind of sensitivity that goes deeper than many politicians, Tusk said.
– Thank you also for understanding other contexts of our region's situation. He told the Prime Minister of Canada that you reminded me of your experiences with the strikes and demonstrations of farmers and transport workers in Canada.
Thanking him for “understanding the arguments of Polish farmers”, he admitted that it was “not an easy thing”.
– Polish farmers and Polish food producers protect their interests. All of Europe is suffering from this tension today. We have to find solutions for that. “We talked about how Canada and Poland can seriously increase the possibilities of exporting Ukrainian grain to starving and needy countries,” the Prime Minister said.
Trudeau: We support all Ukrainians fighting for freedom for all of us
– I am happy with the results of all these talks, because we have similar ideas about Ukraine and what we have in common. “I am a true friend of Ukraine and we will support this country together in its fight against Russian aggression,” Trudeau said.
He thanked Poland for welcoming the Canadian soldiers and allowing the Ukrainian soldiers to benefit from the training organized for them. He emphasized that the Polish Army also supported the Canadian forces as part of the battle group in Latvia.
Trudeau also made the remarks on Saturday — including himself and other leaders — on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen – visited Kyiv, where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Together we support Ukraine on its path to safeguard freedom, culture, language, democratic values and the rule of law – he noted. He emphasized that he knows Poland shares these values and continues to support Ukraine. “We unwaveringly support all Ukrainians fighting for the freedom of all of us,” Trudeau said.
As he reported, the topics of conversation with the Polish Prime Minister included trade relations between Poland and Canada, so-called clean energy and issues related to moving away from fossil fuels. He announced that Canada would like to support Poland in this process in the nuclear sector as well.
Trudeau met Tusk and Duda earlier
Canada's prime minister joined other leaders on Saturday, the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen – visited Kiev, where they met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Canadian Prime Minister arrived in Poland after completing his visit to Ukraine.
At 10:30 a.m., Trudeau went to the Prime Minister's Office to hold talks with Donald Tusk. There were talks between the delegations and a face-to-face meeting between the Prime Ministers.
Donald Tusk and Justin TrudeauPiotr Novak/PAB
On Monday morning, the President also met Andrej Duda and received him at the Presidential Palace.
Andrzej Duda, Justin TrudeauRadek Pietruszka/PAP
Trudeau's visit to Kiev
During his visit to Kiev, he signed an agreement on cooperation in security matters with Canadian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky. The document provides, among other things: Canadian support for Ukraine's reconstruction, support for Ukraine's integration with the Euro-Atlantic community, and support for defense against Russia now and in the event of future aggression.
Read more: Western leaders arrive in Kiev. Bilateral agreements were signed
According to the document, Canada will provide financial and military aid worth 3.02 billion Canadian dollars (over PLN 8.8 billion) to Ukraine in 2024.
Main photo source: Piotr Novak/PAB