Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday confirmed that Canada will give his country a new assistance package after he spoke with European leaders amid peace talks.
Zelenskyy stopped in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and thanked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for joining him in “speaking with our friends from Europe” about bringing the war between Ukraine and Russia to an end.
Carney told reporters that “a just and lasting peace” needs a “willing Russia.” He condemned Russia’s strikes on Kyiv on Saturday, which killed at least one person and left over 20 people hurt.
“We’re announcing today further economic assistance for Ukraine: $2.5 billion worth of economic assistance that helps unlock financing from the [International Monetary Fund], from the World Bank, from the European Bank for reconstruction and redevelopment,” Carney said.
Zelenskyy thanked Carney and called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a man of war.”
Zelenskyy accused Moscow of rejecting peace proposals “for a Christmas ceasefire and is intensifying the brutality of its missile and drone strikes,” he wrote in a post on the social platform X.
“This is a clear signal of how they truly regard diplomacy there,” he continued. “So far, not seriously enough. Therefore, a sufficient level of support for Ukraine is needed. And a sufficient level of pressure on Russia is needed as well.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Saturday marked a “good call” with Zelenskyy, Carney and other European leaders to ensure “a just and lasting peace agreement,” he wrote in an X post. Other European participants included French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, among others, according to Zelenskyy. Leaders from the European Union and NATO were also on the call.
“Strong positions are needed both at the front and in diplomacy to prevent Putin from manipulating and evading a real and just end to the war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “The world has sufficient strength to guarantee security and peace.”
A Ukrainian official told NewsNation that President Trump was scheduled to be on the call with Zelensky, Carney and the European leaders, but it doesn’t appear that the U.S. president participated. Trump and Zelenskyy are scheduled to meet in Florida on Sunday.
Earlier this week, Zelenskyy announced a “90 percent”-ready 20-point peace plan. The proposal includes a “fortress belt” to protect Ukraine’s Donetsk region, a referendum on the peace plan, a demilitarized zone to withdraw both Russian and Ukrainian troops and a peace council led by Trump.
“We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future,” Zelenskyy wrote on X on Friday. “A lot can be decided before the New Year. Glory to Ukraine!”
But Trump downplayed his counterpart’s optimism, telling Politico on Friday that Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.”
