Trudeau off to security summit in London as Trump's Ukraine comments rile Europeans

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau departs Ottawa on Saturday, March 1, 2025., on route to the U.K. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to London on Saturday ahead of a European defence summit seeking to set the conditions toward a lasting peace in Ukraine, as some say Washington’s transatlantic alliance is over.

“It’s one thing to get to a ceasefire, but if it starts again in a week or a month or a year, then you really haven’t dealt with the issue,” Canada’s High Commissioner to the U.K., Ralph Goodale, told media in London late Saturday.

“The focus among the leaders will be how you can actually make that real and genuine -- and what kind of arrangements do you need to put in place that are going to stick.”

The U.K. announced Sunday’s summit earlier in the week, saying it would involve European leaders. But the event takes on a new focus with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attending, shortly after an explosive meeting Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

Kyiv and Washington were expected to sign a critical-minerals deal as part of efforts to end Ukraine’s war with Russia, but Trump showed open disdain for Zelenskyy after the Ukrainian leader insisted the deal include security guarantees from the U.S.

Goodale said the exchange was “very difficult to see” and amped up the importance of Sunday’s summit.

In stark contrast to Washington, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warmly welcomed Zelenskyy to 10 Downing Street for a meeting ahead of the summit.

“We stand with you,” Starmer told Zelenskyy, adding that he had the nation’s unwavering support.

Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with King Charles before Sunday’s summit.

Meanwhile, Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland issued a policy statement Saturday that says a government she leads will push to use all seized Russian assets to pay for Ukraine’s defence.

Freeland said this would be worth around C$313 billion, after the G7 agreed last summer to eventually provide Ukraine with $68 billion from the already seized Russian assets last year.

Europe was rattled earlier this month by Trump’s overtures toward Russia, and leaders have begun calling for stronger defence for Ukraine, arguing an emboldened Moscow would invade many other countries.

Steve Hewitt, an intelligence researcher who teaches Canadian studies at the University of Birmingham in England, said the fact Trudeau is going to the summit sends a message on whom Ottawa sees as its partners.

“It’s a sort of political statement in many ways,” Hewitt said. “There’s a huge amount of symbolism around this meeting.”

He said that symbolism can also be seen in Trudeau and various European leaders posting support for Zelenskyy on social media, calling it “a clear positioning” that is at odds with Trump, adding that it’s remarkable the U.S. is pushing back on Europe’s security concerns.

However, Aurel Braun, an international studies and political science professor at the University of Toronto, cautioned that Trudeau cannot show up to the summit empty-handed.

“Look at Keir Starmer, who’s saying we are going to, in Britain, increase very sharply within a very short time our defence spending. We’re going to reach something like 2.5 per cent,” Braun said.

NATO members pledged years ago to reach at least two per cent of GDP on defence spending by 2024.

“We are not even remotely close (in Canada) to the two-per-cent floor. That’s not a ceiling. And so in key ways, it’s almost embarrassing that we turn up with very positive rhetoric, but with very little capacity.”

Starmer has said he is positioning the U.K. as a bridge between the U.S. and the European Union, and Hewitt said Starmer will “try to keep both sides happy, and it may well end up alienating both sides in the process.”

In that light, Canada is seeking stronger ties with partners other than the U.S.

During his own visit to Washington, Starmer caused a stir among some Canadians by opting against pushing back on Trump’s talk of annexing Canada, when asked his thoughts on the idea, and whether King Charles should weigh in on Trump’s threats.

Goodale brushed off Starmer’s non-response, and the silence coming from Buckingham Palace.

“It is so preposterous that it doesn’t merit serious comment,” Goodale said of Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state. “Serious people will treat it as ludicrous with no credibility.”

Hewitt said Starmer’s lack of a defence for Canadian sovereignty was “very insulting” to many Canadians but has had little media coverage in Britain, despite Canadians seeking the U.K. as a close partner.

“There is a bit of a nostalgia (in) this idea that the U.K. still actively cares about Canada or that King Charles might -- independently of the British government -- make some sort of political statement,” he said.

“Those things aren’t going to happen, and I think the Starmer government has calculated that they need to somehow stay on the side of the United States.”

Meanwhile, Braun argues Canada’s need to increase its defence spending is becoming increasingly important, as Russia militarizes the Arctic and China increases its presence in the north, calling itself a “near Arctic state.”

He said that Canada should aim to hit its NATO target in order to be taken seriously in the multinational alliance.

“I would much rather have money spent on education and on health care -- I’m an academic -- but the reality is that we have endemic conflict in the international system,” Braun said.

“Russia remains a threat. China, in some ways, is an even bigger threat. This is the international system as it is, not as we wish it to be. We have to deal with it.”

With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.