Trudeau heading to Europe to discuss response to Russian invasion of Ukraine

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that he’ll be travelling to Europe next week to meet with allies to discuss the world’s response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.

Trudeau said he will be visiting the United Kingdom, Latvia, Germany and Poland.

“We’ll be discussing how to continue to support Ukraine, how to strengthen democratic values around the world and how to stand up even more for democracy,” he said. “To stand against Russian aggression, and to work very hard to combat the kind of disinformation and misinformation that is a strong facet of this war in Ukraine.”

Trudeau said other topics of discussion would include economic recovery and climate change.

The planned trip comes on the heels of a frightening situation that unfolded Friday when Russia attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, sparking fears of a possible nuclear disaster.

Luckily, officials said Ukrainian firefighters were able to extinguish a fire at the plant, and no radiation was released.

Russian forces have now seized control of the nuclear plant — the largest of its kind in Europe.

Trudeau said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about the attack.

“Yesterday evening I spoke once again with President Zelenskyy and shared with him my deep concerns for the dangers of Russia’s attack on the nuclear power plant.”

“Obviously we need to see great care is taken and a de-escalation of violence in general in Ukraine, but specifically around nuclear power plants. That would be a compounding level to this crisis … that nobody wants to see.”

In the meantime, Trudeau said sanctions levied against Russia are working, with the Russian Ruble plummeting in value.

“Russia is reeling from the strong and aligned measures that democracies around the world have engaged in,” he said from Mississauga, Ont. on Friday where he was making a transit announcement.

With files from The Associated Press