Prime Minister Justin Trudeau concludes his week-long trip to Europe on Friday with new sanctions on Russia’s oligarch Roman Abramovich, the big-name international poster boy who enabled President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. rice field.
Abramovich is a major shareholder of Evraz, a British multinational manufacturing company that operates steel mills in Regina. Britain also sanctioned Abramovich on Thursday. The pressure on the Boris Johnson government continued to hurt the owners of the famous Chelsea football club. Abramovich turned his superyacht to the Mediterranean to avoid confiscating his property.
Abramovich is one of the five new Russian oligarchs added to Canada’s sanctions list due to his close relationship with Putin when Trudeau finished his trip to Europe in four countries.
Trudeau, in Warsaw before the scheduled departure on Friday, frozen their assets and restricted Russia’s 32 military organizations as Russia’s war against Ukraine appeared to enter an ominous new stage. He said he would be charged. Airstrikes on cities in western Ukraine signaled an attempt by the army to extend its attacks further north and south beyond the rest of Ukraine.
Trudeau visited London, Berlin, Riga and Latvia to meet with leaders on how to increase pressure on Russia to end the invasion of Ukraine. Their measures include sanctions, strengthening the economic ropes around Putin and his enabler’s neck, and the Ukrainian army against all possibilities by stopping the onslaught of Europe’s largest military force to date. And sent new weapons to civilian fighters.
However, Trudeau and his allies could not give Ukrainian leaders one thing they wanted to protect civilians who had been bombed by Russian bombs for more than two weeks: no-fly zones. Western politicians, NATO leaders, and the Trudeau government have all stated that no-fly zones will lead to a full-scale aerial battle between them and the alliance.
Canadians may soon be able to hear directly from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has agreed to address Congress next Tuesday.
As Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said this week that he stood near the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of Berlin’s Cold War freedom, “they are fighting for all of us, but they are alone. I’m fighting at. “
Therefore, Canada and its allies hope that Putin’s rich and powerful companions turn their backs on him, or that the pain inflicted on their citizens somehow drives them to change their government. He appealed to an unprecedented economic war against Russia.
Mr Trudeau said the government will endeavor to ensure that sanctions against Abramovich do not hurt Canadian workers in the Saskatchewan company in which he invests.
“Sanctions against oligarchs like Russian officials and Abramovic are directed against them so that they cannot benefit or benefit from Canadian economic activities or the efforts of Canadians working with the companies in which they invest. “Tordo said.
The prime minister said he believes Abramovich’s shares in Evraz are worth less than 30 percent. “We’re obviously going to keep an eye on it, but I’m sure this won’t affect hard-working Canadians doing good jobs at companies across the country.”
Trudeau, who stood next to Johnson in London earlier this week, was accused of trying to poison Putin’s main enemy, Alexei Navalny, the currently imprisoned opposition leader, two years ago. Announced sanctions against 10 other Russian oligarchs.
Trudeau also said he is considering air transportation of Ukrainian refugees who may want to leave Europe to find a safe haven in Canada as the continent of Europe has fallen into the worst immigration crisis in decades. rice field. But he never said.
“I haven’t ruled it out at all,” Trudeau said. “We are considering all the options … Canadians want to be there for Ukrainians.”
When Trudeau toured Europe, some ministers also crossed the continent endlessly. Harjit Sajjan, Minister of International Development, is coordinating Canada’s refugee response with local officials and the United Nations Refugee Agency in Moldova before joining Deputy Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Warsaw’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland for a meeting with the Polish government. I did.
“When it comes to refugees, everything is at the table,” Freeland said in Berlin.
The Prime Minister faced a crisis on Thursday when he spent time with more than 12 refugees at a hostel in Warsaw. Canada has one of the largest Ukrainian diaspora communities in the world and is home to 1.3 million people, but many of those who fled the country returned to Europe so they could return to their hometowns when the war was over. I want to stay.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda told Trudeau that 100,000 people come to Poland from Ukraine every day and 1.5 million refugees are expanding his population. Doda said his country warmly welcomed Ukrainian neighbors and wanted to give them a sanctuary until they could return.
However, Doda did not try to hide the fact that the continued influx of Ukrainians across the eastern border continued to put pressure on its country and that support from allies such as Canada was essential.
Trudeau said Friday that the government would provide additional resources to support a rapid refugee application process for Ukrainians, which eliminates many of the usual visa requirements.
Trudeau also met with US Vice President Kamala Harris for an hour in Warsaw on Thursday. This is because two members of the NATO Transatlantic Alliance in 30 countries in North America sought to show solidarity with their European partners, who are currently facing the worst battles on the continent. Since World War II.
On the other hand, satellite images showed that long artillery lines lined up near the capital of Kyiv were scattered in nearby towns and forests.
The continent, and in fact the world, is still upset by the Russian air bombing at the Mariupol Maternity Hospital, which has been widely accused of war crimes.
Trudeau does not speak directly to Putin like some of his allies, such as Olaf Scholz of Germany and Emmanuel Macron of France, but whether he gained any insight into the state of mind of Russian leaders. I was asked on Friday.
Trudeau says that the central theme of Putin’s allies’ conversation is not “his deeper motives and justification”, but “what he wants, what is the final game”. Said.
He said leaders were trying to get Putin to understand that “what he is doing will not benefit him or the Russian people.” On the contrary, it set back the path for Russia’s advance. “
Mike Branchfield
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