Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he has been lobbying fellow NATO leaders to support lifting restrictions on long-range weapons in Ukraine during their meetings at the United Nations General Assembly this week.
Ukraine has long pushed for permission to strike targets inside Russia with weapons supplied largely by the United States, Britain and other allies, despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s concerns about provoking Moscow into further escalating the nearly three-year war.
But a growing number of those allies, including Canada, say the restrictions are hampering Ukraine’s ability to win the war and force Russia into peace talks.
Trudeau told reporters outside the U.N. that he had “several of those conversations directly with leaders” during Monday’s meetings when asked if he is making progress in building consensus for policy change.
“We need the war to end. We need Ukraine to win this war,” he said.
“That is why Canada and so many other countries are so unequivocal about ensuring that Ukraine has the tools to defend itself against this illegal invasion, including diminishing Russia’s ability to launch further attacks against Ukraine.”
Trudeau said earlier this month that Ukraine should be allowed to strike inside Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that lifting restrictions on long-range weapons would lead NATO into direct war with Moscow.
Ukraine and its NATO allies have dismissed Putin’s comments as empty threats.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week acknowledged Biden’s concerns about escalation but noted that “not everyone around him thinks the same.” He said the longer Western partners wait to allow the use of long-range missiles, the more tactically obsolete their value will become.
Zelenskyy has included the possibility of allowing long-range weapons strikes in his long-term victory plan that he will present to Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump this week during their trip to the United States, including to the United Nations.
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Although Ukraine has been able to carry out drone strikes deep inside Russia and has developed its own long-range weapons system, it maintains that Western-supplied weapons (including American ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow missiles) can be used immediately to deter Russian bombing of Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure.
Zelenskyy spoke at a special session of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday about the ongoing Russian invasion of his country, where he said Russia “can only be forced into peace.” Zelenskyy is scheduled to address the General Assembly again on Wednesday.
Trudeau was scheduled to meet Zelensky privately at the UN on Tuesday.
Future US support for Ukraine could be decided in the upcoming US election, in which Harris is competing against Trump for the White House. Harris has echoed Biden’s pledge to continue supporting Ukraine until it achieves victory over Russia.
Trump repeatedly declined to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war during a debate against Harris earlier this month, and said during a speech in Georgia on Tuesday that he wants the US to “get out” of the war altogether.
“I think we’re stuck in that war unless I’m president. I’ll do it. I’ll negotiate it and I’ll leave. We have to get out. Biden says, ‘We’re not leaving until we win.’ What happens if they win?” Trump said.
Asked Tuesday if he is concerned about a potential Trump victory and its implications for Ukraine, Trudeau said right-wing politicians around the world are tempted to “fall victim to or act on Putin’s disinformation and misinformation,” citing the federal Conservatives’ vote against an updated free trade deal with Ukraine.
“We need to stand firm on Ukraine and on international law, because it’s not just the future of Ukraine that’s at stake here, it’s the future of all democracies,” Trudeau said.
The Conservatives have said their vote against the Ukraine trade deal was based on wording that emphasised Ukraine’s support for “pricing carbon”. Ukraine has had a price on carbon emissions since 2012.
On Tuesday, the United States announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $375 million. The aid includes air-to-ground bombs, which are cluster munitions and can be fired by Ukrainian fighter jets, as well as ammunition for the High Mobility Rocket Artillery Systems (HIMARS), Javelin and other anti-armor systems, mine-resistant and ambush-protected vehicles, bridging systems and other military vehicles and equipment, according to administration officials.
The United States has provided more than $56.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the country in February 2022. Canada has committed $4.5 billion in military assistance.
Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting in the east, including hand-to-hand combat in the border region of Kharkiv, where Ukraine has expelled Russia from a huge processing plant in the town of Vovchansk that had been occupied for four months, officials said Tuesday.
At the same time, Ukrainian troops continue to control territory in Russia’s Kursk region after a bold incursion there last month.
— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters
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