FOG BLOG WORLD NEWS LOG: TRUDEAU AND BIDEN HEAD TO BRUSSELS FOR NATO SUMMIT ON WAR!

Trudeau calls Ukraine war 'a defining moment' in address to European parliament...........Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the European Parliament shortly after arriving in Brussels on Wednesday for emergency meetings amid Russia’s ongoing attacks in Ukraine.

During his speech, Trudeau framed Russia’s invasion as a test for democracies around the world and said Canada stands with the people of Ukraine as Europe confronts its biggest security threat since the Second World War.

“All of our partners and allies are facing a defining moment, we cannot fail,” said Trudeau. “We must meet this moment.”

“Putin’s attack on Ukraine is an attack on the values that form the pillars of all democracies. We have a responsibility to make the case to people about why these values matter so much, not just to Ukrainians, but to us all.”

He went on to say western countries have responsibility to provide more humanitarian aid for families affected by the war, along with sending military equipment and lethal aid to Ukraine.

Trudeau also focused on economic frustrations that he says are threatening the stability of the world and driving a deep uncertainty about the future and distrust of government. The prime minister cited Canada’s own anti-mandate convoy protests that took place in Ottawa and at Canadian borders last month.

“The leaders of those convoys were effective in turning citizens with real anxieties against the systems best suited to allay those concerns,” he said. “But democracy isn’t a game, and there just aren’t easy solutions to the big complex problems we are all facing.”Trudeau will meet with other NATO and G7 leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, later in the week.

Wednesday’s address is Trudeau’s second speech to European parliamentarians, following a 2017 address that was meant as a shot in the arm for a continent reeling from Britain’s vote a year earlier to leave the European Union amid the election of Donald Trump in the United States.

Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before embarking on his second European trip this month.

“The Prime Minister and President discussed the continuing Russian military aggression and the increasing number of civilian casualties due to Russia’s bombings of civilian infrastructure,” reads a statement from the Prime Minister’s office. “Both leaders called on Russia to stop targeting civilians, to withdraw its military forces from Ukraine, and to engage in diplomacy with Ukraine.”

Earlier this month, Trudeau met with European leaders in the U.K., Germany, and Poland, where he came face to face with the growing European refugee crisis.