Adedokun Waliyu 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday along with other Western political leaders to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It is an important, symbolic moment and comes less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump’s public attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom Trump dismissed as a “dictator.”
At a press conference Sunday, Zelenskyy said the prime minister would be one of 13 foreign leaders attending a summit on peace and security for Ukraine, and he hoped Trudeau would enlighten him on “what is happening with the relationship with the U.S.”
Trudeau opened the summit pledging to give 25 light-armoured vehicles to Ukraine and to provide the country with the first payment of the $5 billion in funds from seized Russian assets.
Trudeau also said Canada will be delivering two armoured combat support vehicles that Ukrainian forces will begin training on shortly in Germany.
The prime minister also said Canada will provide a grant to help Ukraine with energy security as Russia attacks the country’s power grid.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in Kyiv on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, called out Russia’s ‘unjustified, brutal war’ of aggression and pledged more aid and equipment for Ukraine’s fight.
Trudeau and other leaders spoke at the opening of the summit, which proceeded despite an audible air-defence siren ringing out in the background. His remarks did not touch on Ukraine’s possible membership in the NATO military alliance, which other leaders have been calling for at the ongoing summit.
Speaking directly to Zelenskyy, Trudeau praised the Ukrainian president’s “remarkable personal bravery, resilience and resolve.”
“You continue to inspire me and tens of millions of my fellow citizens back home in Canada,” he said.
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Washington and Moscow have met to discuss how to end the war — an initial round of discussions that took place without Ukraine at the table and over the heads of European allies who Trump expects to shoulder the burden of a possible peacekeeping military deployment.
Trump made ending the war in Ukraine one of his signature campaign promises in last year’s bid to regain the White House — claiming he could end the bloodshed in one day. The notion was dismissed by Ukraine, Western allies and Russia itself.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer scheduled to arrive in Washington to meet with Trump on Thursday.
The U.S. president suggested that Ukraine bears responsibility for the ongoing war, “should have never started it” and could have avoided the bloodshed by making a deal with Moscow.
