Trudeau makes fourth annual visit to Ukraine since Russian war escalation in 2022

KYIV — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reportedly visiting Ukraine on Monday as part of a summit of world leaders as support from the United States appears increasing tenuous.

Trudeau has visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv every year since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Here’s a look at how those visits went.

May 8, 2022

Trudeau’s first visit to Ukraine during the current escalation in conflict came just months after hostilities reignited with Russia.

The whirlwind, unannounced visit saw the prime minister meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reopen the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv with a flag-raising ceremony.

The trip also saw Trudeau visit Irpin, the site where Russian and Ukrainian forces fought fiercely for a month before Ukraine retook the city in March 2022.

Trudeau was among the first world leaders who visited Ukraine, travelling via rail from Poland, since the war with Russia escalated in February 2022. He was accompanied by then-Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.

June 10, 2023

Trudeau’s next visit saw him again accompanied by Freeland as the prime minister visited Saint Michael’s Square in Kyiv to lay a wreath at a memorial to pay tribute to Ukrainian casualties in the war.

The prime minister also made an address at the Ukrainian parliament and visited a veterans rehabilitation centre to speak with soldiers.

A bilateral meeting between Trudeau and Zelenskyy also took place, along with Canada announcing $500 million in new military assistance funding as well as $10 million in new humanitarian funding.

Canada also announced at the time the provision of additional ammunition, 288 air-defence missiles and other military assets and training support for the Ukrainian cause.

Feb. 24, 2024

Trudeau made his third visit in as many years to Ukraine in 2024, this time joined by a number of other world leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and then-Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

The trip also saw Trudeau and Zelenskyy sign what the Prime Minister’s Office described as a “historic agreement” on building a “strategic security partnership,” committing Canada to providing more than $3 billion in financial and military support to Ukraine.

Trudeau also announced during the trip an additional $75 million for assistance with items such as mine removal and “cyber support,” while $15 million was committed to helping the completion of a museum in Kyiv commemorating the victims of Ukrainians killed under Soviet rule in the early 1930s.

The prime minister made the visit again accompanied by Freeland and was also joined this time by National Defence Minister Bill Blair.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2025.

The Canadian Press