Policy: In addition to pledging C$500 million in military aid – just over NOK 4 billion – Trudeau says Canada will join the international effort to train Ukrainian fighter pilots.

At a press conference in Kyiv, the prime minister also said Canada had seized a Russian Antonov cargo plane that landed in Canada last year and would begin the process of returning the plane to Ukraine.

In the Ukrainian capital, Trudeau met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, and visited a memorial to soldiers who have been killed in battles with Russian and pro-Russian forces since 2014. Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland also participated in the trip to Kiev.

Canada is one of the countries outside of Ukraine where the largest number of Ukrainians and people of Ukrainian descent live. The NATO country has provided military and financial support since the Russian invasion in February last year.