DUBLIN: Prime Minister Mark Carney will hear from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this afternoon about the state of negotiations with Russia, as the two join European leaders anxious about the continent’s security.
“Security guarantees are a European responsibility — with Canada, with the United States. So there are tiers for security guarantees,” he said in French, at the start of the European Political Community summit in Dublin.
The summit is an informal meeting with leaders spanning Iceland to Azerbaijan that has occurred every six months, starting after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
For the second time, Canada will be the only non-European country represented at the table. Since the last meeting in May in Armenia, Carney and European Union leaders have floated Canada becoming an “associate member” of the EU — a title they have yet to define.
Carney told reporters Thursday morning that the summit can help advance his goals of boosting affordability and economic opportunity for Canadians through new partnerships with Europe.
“It delivers opportunity — opportunity for our youth, for our artists, for companies. It will deliver affordability, cutting red tape, more competition in Canada, more goods, more choice and security,” he said in English.
Carney is also set to have bilateral discussions today with his counterparts from Greece and Cyprus, two European Union countries that haven’t ratified a decade-old trade deal with Europe.
The summit’s Irish hosts have locked down a chunk of central Dublin, with police boats circling the Liffey River and a visible security presence across the city, for what the Irish government is calling its largest ever gathering of international leaders.
Schools, newsrooms and an airline have reported receiving hoax bomb threats, which local authorities have said are not credible.
Zelenskyy is set to brief more than a dozen leaders including Carney, assembled in a circle at a meeting co-hosted by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
He is expected to discuss this week’s talks in Abu Dhabi with Russian officials, organized by U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The two are set to arrive in Dublin on Thursday evening to speak with Zelenskyy, following a talk earlier in the day in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Carney is set to leave for Asia this evening.
Carney did not attend this week’s UN Climate Conference in Turkiye, COP31, telling reporters that the leaders’ day fell on Nov. 11.
“It was more important to be at Remembrance Day to honour the women and men of the Canadian Forces who served our country, who stood for democracy — often in Europe — (and) supported our rights,” he said.
Carney added that his environment minister will help advance Canadian interests around electrification, saying it’s a major theme of the summit in Turkiye. – Agencies