Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lobby Western partners to allow his country to strike military targets deep inside Russia, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Zelensky himself announced this in his post in English on the social platform "X". after a phone call with Trudeau yesterday.
He said he asked the Canadian prime minister to advocate for Ukraine to receive "authorization and the necessary means to strike military targets on the territory of the aggressor country.
Trudeau's office said he told Zelensky that the Russian attacks "further strengthen global unity and resolve in support of Ukraine at upcoming international" forums.
NATO member Canada, which has one of the largest Ukrainian diasporas in the world, has been providing military and financial support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of its territory in February 2022, Reuters notes.
Zelensky wrote in "Telegram" that he also discussed with Trudeau an upcoming conference on the issue of prisoners. The forum, which Canada will host, will build on the peace summit held in Switzerland in June.
The conference will be at the level of foreign affairs ministers, Trudeau's office announced.
It will most likely take place next month.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Raphael Grossi, promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy assistance in connection with the purchase of nuclear equipment from Bulgaria, the IAEA announced on its website.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky met in Kyiv with Grossi. The two discussed more specifically the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. Grossi will visit this week for the fifth time since the beginning of the war the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, where in his estimation the situation remains "very unstable" and the risk of a nuclear disaster remains.
The IAEA chief also agreed with Zelensky that the Vienna-based UN agency would provide Ukraine with technical support and advice on nuclear safety in connection with its plans to purchase equipment for the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant that was intended for the suspended project for the construction of the "Belene" NPP; in Bulgaria. This will help Ukraine ensure that the implementation of this project will continue in accordance with safety standards, the IAEA said in a statement.
It is about two nuclear reactors and other Russian-made equipment.