Vice President JD Vance, center right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center left, as President Donald Trump, center, listens in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 in Washington. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mystyslav Chernov
Republished February 28, 2025 - 3:41 PM
Original Publication Date February 28, 2025 - 1:01 PM
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to London this weekend to attend a European defence summit seeking to set the conditions toward a lasting peace in Ukraine.
The summit was announced earlier in the week to involve European leaders but will now take place after an explosive meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House this afternoon.
The two countries were expected to sign a critical minerals deal today as part of efforts to end Ukraine's war with Russia, but after Zelenskyy insisted that the deal include security guarantees from the U.S., Trump showed open disdain for the Ukrainian president.
Europe was rattled earlier this month by Trump's overtures toward Russia and began making their own plans to beef up defence of Ukraine seeing it as a wider defence of Europe.
Canada was not mentioned as one of the countries invited to join the meeting when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the event during his trip to Washington to meet with Trump on Thursday.
Starmer is set to meet with Zelenskyy ahead of Sunday's talks, and has also invited leaders from NATO, the European Commission, as well more than a dozen countries including France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2025.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2025