Prime Minister Mark Carney met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin and discussed negotiations with Russia and continental security with European leaders.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin on Thursday, as the two discussed the state of negotiations with Russia and continental security alongside European leaders.
At the start of the European Political Community summit, Carney said in French that “Security guarantees are a European responsibility, with Canada, with the United States,” and described it as a system of “tiers for security guarantees.”
Carney said the summit can help advance his goal of boosting affordability and economic opportunities for Canadians through new partnerships with Europe, including “cutting red tape” and increasing competition.
He told reporters Thursday morning that the summit supports opportunity for Canadians, adding it would deliver “more goods, more choice and security.”
Carney also held discussions on Thursday with his counterparts from Greece and Cyprus, both EU members that have not ratified Canada’s decade-old trade deal with the EU.
The source says both countries have held back for reasons that include questions about protected origins for cheeses, such as whether Canadian-made products can be called feta or halloumi.
The source also reports that Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides told Carney that he is committed to getting the trade deal ratified, saying, “I want to mention this publicly — we are doing whatever is necessary in order to pass the agreement, (the) free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada, which is very important for both of us.”
Christodoulides said the meeting was the first between a Canadian prime minister and a Cypriot president in 80 years, and he described it as reflecting a “pro-European Canadian approach” under Carney’s leadership.
The summit is an informal gathering of leaders from around Europe that has occurred every six months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Canada again the only non-European country represented at the table.
Carney is set to leave for Asia on Thursday evening, and the source says he did not attend the UN Climate Conference in Turkey, known as COP31, because the leaders’ day fell on Nov. 11 and he attended Remembrance Day instead.
The summit’s Irish hosts have secured parts of central Dublin for what they describe as its largest ever gathering of international leaders, with police boats patrolling the River Liffey and a visible security presence across the city.
The source says schools, newsrooms and an airline reported receiving bomb threats, which local authorities said were not credible.
Zelenskyy briefed more than a dozen leaders at a meeting co-hosted by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and the source says he discussed this week’s talks in Abu Dhabi with Russian officials organized by U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, followed by a talk earlier in the day in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The source says Witkoff and Kushner are set to arrive in Dublin on Thursday evening to speak with Zelenskyy.
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