Trudeau in Iceland to meet Nordic leaders ahead of NATO, amid Arctic uncertainty
CTV
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed in Iceland Sunday where he will be a guest at the annual meeting of Nordic leaders as uncertainty looms over the future of the Arctic and there are heightened concerns about global security following internal strife in Russia.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed in Iceland Sunday where he will be a guest at the annual meeting of Nordic leaders as uncertainty looms over the future of the Arctic and there are heightened concerns about global security following internal strife in Russia.
The Nordic summit will include leaders from the host country as well as Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, and the autonomous areas of Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands.
Trudeau's office said it is a chance to advance common interests with the Nordic nations, which range from protecting the environment and developing clean energy to tackling security challenges.
The security discussions took on even more importance this weekend, after mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led troops from his private Wagner Group in an armed rebellion in Russia as he called for the ouster of the country's defence minister.
The move seemed poised to threaten President Vladimir Putin's decades-long hold on power, but tensions de-escalated quickly on Saturday after the Kremlin announced a deal that halted Prigozhin's march on Moscow. The arrangement will see Putin's one-time protege move to Belarus and avoid prosecution for his role in the short-lived rebellion, while Wagner Group troops will return to Ukraine where they've been fighting alongside soldiers from the Russian army.
Trudeau said Saturday that Canada would be monitoring the situation closely, and foreign affairs ministers from the G7 held a call to discuss the situation before the deal was announced.
The Nordic talks also come a little more than two weeks before leaders travel to Lithuania to meet with NATO allies and discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
