Justin Trudeau’s Canada on Putin’s Blacklist

It is certainly not new that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has always been tied to Western and Atlantic democratic values. Being one of NATO’s founding members, the North American republic has been on the frontlines in recent months alongside Ukraine after the Russian invasion. Under the direction of its prime minister, Canada was one of the first states to impose economic and financial sanctions against Moscow and send weapons to Kiev. Ottawa further strengthened its friendship with the Prime Minister. Their video conference a few days ago confirmed the well-established political relationship between the two countries. It’s also a tacit confirmation that Putin has decided to put Trudeau and almost all Canadian MPs on a blacklist of people banned from Russian territory. In recent days, hundreds of citizens have joined these politicians, including actor Jim Carrey, author Margaret Atwood and several journalists. Another target of the liberal leader and head of state was Communist China. In this regard, we recall the direct and indirect accusations against Beijing of the coronavirus pandemic and the possible creation, by mistake or otherwise, of the Chinese laboratory of the virus as it spread throughout the world. But above all the desire to prevent the economic expansion of communist power. In December 2018, at the request of the United States, the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the finance director of the Chinese company Huawei, was sensational. The arrest prompted a very harsh reaction from Beijing, which jailed two Canadian citizens in retaliation. The US-mediated simultaneous release of the trio in September 2021 did little to bridge the gap in relations between the two states. Strong disagreements were confirmed on Thursday, November 17 in Bali, Indonesia during the G20 summit. Here Trudeau and Xi Jinping held a brief meeting, and the Canadian leader was strongly accused by the communist dictator that all the contents of the meeting were to be kept secret. In an unacceptable impropriety according to Xi Jinping, Trudeau pointed out how the conversation was open and transparent, and Canada has no habit of hiding the contents of conversations from the public. The episode also demonstrated how tensions between China and Canada persisted not only at the diplomatic level. Among other things, the two leaders have not met for more than three years, the first direct contact since the Hawaii case that ended in tense handshakes and recriminations. However, on the sidelines of the Bali summit, a bilateral meeting between the Canadian Prime Minister and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was held in a smooth atmosphere, during which agreements on transatlantic relations and cooperation in NATO were signed between the two countries. In general support for Ukraine.

Alexander Perelli