Trudeau: It is important to recognize everyone behind the victory in World War II, including Russia

OTTAWA — As the French government reportedly changes course and decides to invite Russian politicians to a D-Day commemoration next week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling for recognition to be given to all countries involved in the victory in World War II.

This includes Russia, despite Canada’s “extreme opposition” to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, as Trudeau put it.

“As we celebrate the victory over fascism and Nazism in World War II, it is important to recognize all the countries involved,” Trudeau told reporters in Toronto.

“However, this does not preclude our profound rejection of the threat to people around the world and also to the rules-based order in which the current Russian regime is involved.”

Trudeau said Moscow must be held accountable for violating basic rules regarding respect for sovereign borders, and his message to all Russian officials was the same.

“If the lines on a map could be redrawn by a neighbor with a larger army, then the period of stability we have experienced since the end of World War II would end and prosperity and opportunity – not just for people in Western democracies but around the world – would be in danger,” he said at a news conference on Thursday.

Trudeau made the remarks after being asked about reports in European media last week whether he would support Russian participation.

Mission Libération, the French government committee organizing the 80th anniversary of D-Day commemorations, told media it had invited Russian representatives to the event.

The group declined to disclose the same information on Thursday, just hours before media reported that French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Russia would not be invited.

The committee did not invite President Vladimir Putin. There is an international arrest warrant against him for war crimes in connection with the forced transfer of children from Ukraine.

Macron said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would attend the ceremonies, as would Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden.

Bloc Québécois foreign policy critic Stéphane Bergeron predicted there would be “awkward situations” at the ceremony, while Liberal MP John McKay said Trudeau should have a message prepared for any Russian officials he meets.

“It should be direct and blunt and it should say: Putin must leave Ukraine immediately,” McKay said.

There was no immediate response to requests for comment from the Russian embassy in Ottawa or the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress.

In 2014, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Russia should participate in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

“Notwithstanding the current difficulties we have with the regime there – and these are obviously immense – I think we do not want to undermine in any way the Soviet and Russian contribution to the war effort, which was obviously enormous at the time,” Harper said just months after Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2024.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press