Trudeau Attends NATO Summit with Focus on Ukraine’s Defence Spending
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Washington this week to attend the NATO Summit as pressure continues on Canada to increase defence spending, and as the war in Ukraine continues.
The meeting comes at a time of transition in several key member nations.
Agenda
Mr. Trudeau left for the U.S. capital on the morning of July 8. He had meetings planned for later that day with Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. The Business Roundtable represents major U.S. multinationals like Amazon and Microsoft.
The NATO 75th anniversary event will be held on July 9 and the leaders’ meeting is set to take place the following day.
The prime minister will be facing pressure in D.C., as NATO members are expected to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defence, which Canada hasn’t reached yet.
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“I continue to expect that all allies should meet the guideline of spending 2 percent,” Mr. Stoltenberg said during a visit to Ottawa on June 19.
Mr. Trudeau is not expected to announce a defence spending change, but he will press to continue supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia, according to a government official.
During the summit, NATO is expected to unveil a plan to prepare for the eventual integration of Ukraine into the alliance.
The U.S. official told reporters however that the U.S. government believes Ukraine’s membership in NATO is a question of when, rather than if.
Andrew Thornebrooke, The Canadian Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
