Trudeau, Von Der Layen to convene 'Stand up for Ukraine' event to raise funds for refugees

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he along with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Layen would be convening the ‘Stand up for Ukraine’ event on Saturday. Initiated by the west, the social media campaign focuses on collecting money in support of refugees fleeing war-hit Ukraine. Announcing his participation, Trudeau asked followers to check back his Twitter account at 9 AM ET. 

It is pertinent to note that the Canadian PM also highlighted that Ottawa's support for Kyiv has never “wavered.” While several European countries have backed down from supplying heavy weapons to the war-hit countries, Canada announced a new military aid of nearly $400 million to Ukraine. The latest development came as the Department of Finance proposed hefty funding for Ukraine in the Federal Budget announced on Thursday. "Budget 2022 proposes to provide an additional C$500 million (Rs 3,015 crore) in 2022-23 to provide further military aid to Ukraine," read the document.  It is worth mentioning that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had vowed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to provide military aid to the country when they held a telephonic conversation on March 29 this year. During the talks, the Canadian PM also assured Zelenskyy to impose tougher sanctions on Russia for its unlawful action against Kyiv. 

Over 300 soldiers evacuated 

Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Ukraine entered 45th day on Saturday. In the latest development, about 300 wounded Russian soldiers were evacuated from Volnovakha. This came after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told that Russia had suffered a "significant" loss of its military troops in Ukraine. According to NATO, fierce resistance from Ukraine’s defenders has killed 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers, denying Moscow the lightning victory it sought. A senior NATO military official had said that, based on information from Ukrainian authorities, the alliance’s estimate was made. 

As the Russia- Ukraine war continues to intensify, Putin's forces have admitted that they are suffering significant losses on the battlefield. Calling the casualties 'a huge tragedy' for the country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sky News, "We have significant losses of troops. It's a huge tragedy for us".

(Image: AP)