Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges Justin Trudeau to boost funding for Ukrainian arms production, strengthen sanctions on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pic/X

In a major development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging him to increase funding for Ukrainian weapons production and explore opportunities for localised arms manufacturing. Zelenskyy made the call ahead of Canada assuming the Group of Seven (G7) presidency.

While thanking Canada for providing defence assistance, including the NASAMS (an air defence system), Zelenskyy also discussed strengthening sanctions against Russia. In a post on X, he wrote, "I spoke with Canada's Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau ahead of Canada's G7 presidency. We discussed key priorities, including strengthening sanctions against Russia--particularly targeting their propaganda networks and shadow fleet."

He added, "I also proposed increasing funding for Ukrainian weapons production and exploring opportunities for localised manufacturing of certain types of arms." "Strong coordination with allies is crucial to ensuring Ukraine's strong stance and advancing lasting peace and security for all," the post added.

This marks the second call by the Ukrainian President to a G7 partner country, with the previous one being to the UK on December 23. During the previous call, the two countries proposed a "100-year Ukraine-UK Partnership Agreement," with Ukraine seeking investments in defence production from the UK, along with strengthening sanctions against Russian shadow tanker fleets.

Earlier in December, the Ukrainian President held several meetings with members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and European Union (EU) to solidify Ukraine's stance against Russia.

This included a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, focusing on Ukraine's EU accession process, use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine and a meeting with NATO Chief Mark Rutte to focus on strengthening air defence in Ukraine.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden in November also authorised the use of long-range missiles by Ukraine to target the deepest part of Russia.

With the American Administration set to transfer powers from the incumbent Biden administration to that of Donald Trump, Ukraine has been diversifying the access and aid to weapons from various partners.

US President-elect Donald Trump has been a strong critic of US' military aid to Ukraine. During the campaign, he even took a jibe at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling him the "best salesman." He has even vowed to end the war within days of taking over the White House.

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