Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Secretary General Stoltenberg discussed Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine and reiterated the importance of continued military, financial, and humanitarian support to the Ukrainian government and people. The leaders underscored Canada’s significant support to Ukraine to date, through the donation of military equipment, training, economic support, and humanitarian assistance.
The Prime Minister and the Secretary General discussed Canada’s contributions to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank, including through Canada’s leadership as the Framework Nation to NATO’s multinational enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia. Prime Minister Trudeau reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to strengthening shared security priorities and increasing defence spending, as announced in Canada’s defence policy update, Our North, Strong and Free, which was released in April.
The Prime Minister and the Secretary General also discussed priorities for the upcoming NATO Summit, which will take place in Washington, D.C., in July, such as increasing support to Ukraine, bolstering defence and deterrence, enhancing industrial defence capacity and co-operation, as well as addressing other ongoing and future transatlantic security threats and challenges.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Secretary General Stoltenberg agreed to staying in close contact and looked forward to meeting again at the NATO Summit.