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Canadian PM Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to show his solidarity. Photo/Reuters
KYIV – Four Western leaders, including the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium, arrived in Kyiv on Saturday to show solidarity with Ukraine on the second anniversary of Russia's invasion.
Italy's Giorgia Meloni, Canada's Justin Trudeau, Belgium's Alexander De Croo and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, traveled to the Ukrainian capital together overnight by train from neighboring Poland. This was stated by the Italian Government in a statement.
Meloni is scheduled to host a video conference today from Kyiv that will include leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been invited to join the discussion.
What did the four leaders come for?
Their presence is designed to underscore the West's commitment to helping Ukraine even as the country increasingly runs short of military supplies, impacting its performance on battlefields where Moscow seeks to seize territory.
Von der Leyen wrote on social media platform X that she was in Kyiv “to celebrate the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people”. He added: “More than ever, we stand firm in Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until this country is finally free.”
Meloni and Trudeau are expected to sign a security pact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during their short visit, in line with recently agreed deals with France and Germany worth billions of dollars.
However, $61 billion in aid promised by US President Joe Biden was blocked by Republicans in Congress, casting a huge shadow over Kyiv's hopes of pushing back Russia's much larger and better-supplied military.
Biden will take part in a videoconference of fellow leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies on Saturday, which will be chaired by Meloni, and Zelenskiy has been invited to join the discussion.
Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 and organized the call, said it was important to challenge the perception that the West was tired of the conflict and that Russia was the winner.
(ahm)