Trudeau outlined why Russia shouldn’t be allowed to keep any Ukrainian territory

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, and he has now come against Moscow being allowed to keep any Ukrainian territory it captured. 

While addressing a NATO assembly in Montreal on November 25th, Trudeau explained that allowing Moscow to keep any of the territory it has captured since launching its war would have concerning results for the rest of the world. 

“Of course, like so many different countries, we have citizens asking: Why is it that we are supporting this faraway country that has nothing to do with us in Canada?” Trudeau explained to the crowd of assembled leaders according to The Globe and Mail. 

The Canadian Prime Minister explained that as a middle power, Canada understood the importance of protecting the global rules-based order upon which modern society has been built and said that Vladimir Putin’s invasion has threatened this order. 

According to Trudeau, Putin was employing a “might makes right” strategy to achieve his goals and allowing Russia to get away with keeping any of the Ukrainian territory it captured since launching the invasion of Ukraine threatened global prosperity. 

“If Russia succeeds in gaining an inch of territory in Ukraine because of their illegal invasion, countries around the world will look at their historical grievances,” Trudeau said, something he believes would have grave consequences. 

Trudeau explained other aggrieved nations would look at the fact Russia was allowed to keep what it took and “wonder if it isn’t time now to redraw lines on a map, to violate the UN Charter, as Russia has, to once again destabilize the rules-based order.”

“The prosperity we have had for decades around this world happens because we agreed to rules–and we abided by them even during the Cold War,” Trudeau added. However, Canada likely won’t have much bearing on the outcome of the conflict. 

Regardless, any level of diplomatic, military, or financial Canadian support for Ukraine will have some impact on the conflict, and Canada has spent the better part of the last three years doing what it could to support its Ukrainian ally. 

Canada has committed $4.5 in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion of the country according to the federal government, which notes on its website that this money will deliver military assistance to Kyiv through to 2029. 

According to the Globe and Mail, critical areas where Canada has assigned Kyiv include providing Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks as well as M777 howitzers, armored combat support vehicles, and anti-tank weapons. 

Never miss a story! Click here to follow The Daily Digest.