KYIV (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv on Saturday in a gesture of support as Ukraine braces for a major counteroffensive against Russian forces and grapples with regular air strikes. Trudeau paid his respects at a memorial site in central Kyiv to Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed fighting pro-Russian forces since 2014. […]
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Canada’s Trudeau visits Kyiv in show of support
KYIV (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv on Saturday in a gesture of support as Ukraine braces for a major counteroffensive against Russian forces and grapples with regular air strikes.
Trudeau paid his respects at a memorial site in central Kyiv to Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed fighting pro-Russian forces since 2014.
“Welcome to Ukraine Mr. Prime Minister,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk tweeted, alongside a photograph of them shaking hands on the platform of a train station.
NATO member Canada, which has one of the world’s largest Ukrainian diasporas, has supplied military and financial assistance to Ukraine during the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February 2022.
Trudeau’s unannounced trip to Kyiv followed a night of Russian missile and drone attacks on targets outside the capital, including Odesa, Poltava region and Kharkiv.
The Canadian prime minister was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, a Ukrainian speaker.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Yurii Khomenko; Editing by Mike Harrison and Alex Richardson)