The Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used his arrival at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, to announce that Canada will provide an additional $500 million in military aid to Ukraine, in addition to imposing new sanctions on Russian officials.

Even before arriving at the summit, which brings together many leaders from the world’s largest economies, Mr. Trudeau announced that his main objective would be to once again denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He therefore decided to celebrate the occasion upon his arrival in Bali by announcing this new grant, which comes on top of the $500 million in military aid already announced in the 2022 budget.

“Canada continues to support Ukraine in defending its territory, sovereignty and independence against Russia. This additional military aid will help Ukrainians to continue their brave fight against (Russian) President Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion, and these new sanctions will put additional pressure on those who support these acts of war,” Mr Trudeau said in a press release on Monday.

The prime minister’s office explained that this new sum will be used to allow Ukraine to acquire military equipment, fuel and medical equipment needed for its defense against Russian forces.

In addition to this new aid for military equipment, Canada imposed sanctions on 23 Russian judicial and security sector officials.

According to Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, these people – police officers, prosecutors, judges and officials from the prison administration – are particularly responsible for the reprisals against Vladimir Kara-Murza, “a courageous Russian dissident”.

“It is very important that we continue to isolate Russia politically, diplomatically and economically, while keeping the issue of Ukraine at the heart of the discussions we are having here at the G20,” Minister Joly said during the meeting. a Monday press throng in Indonesia.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,400 individuals and entities in any way connected to President Putin’s war.

Trudeau wants to up the pressure

Also, Mr. Putin is not present at the G20 summit; Instead, Russia will be represented by its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. Mr. Trudeau has already mentioned that he doesn’t really want to meet him.

As the host of the summit, Indonesia urged leaders to focus on strengthening health systems and food and energy security.

Indonesia stressed the importance of emphasizing consensus rather than division, a point on which Ottawa disagreed.

“My goal will be to make sure the world comes together to reiterate the fact that (President) Putin made a terrible decision when he decided to invade a peaceful neighboring country,” Trudeau said Sunday in reference to the conflict in Ukraine.

“The conflict in Ukraine has international implications, particularly on the issue ofinflation. The G20 is a forum where economic issues are discussed. What’s happening in Ukraine has an impact on the economy, so we definitely need to talk about it,” Ms Joly reiterated on Monday.

The world’s 20 largest economies meet each year to collectively seek to mitigate risks to the global economic system and find progress on issues ranging from climate change to nuclear safety.

The summit will officially open on Tuesday, while Monday was dedicated to the arrival of the leaders and private meetings between them.

With information from Dylan Robertson

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