Trudeau pushes allies to lift long-range weapons limits for Ukraine at UN

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he has been pressing his fellow NATO leaders to support lifting long-range weapons restrictions on Ukraine during his meetings at the United Nations General Assembly this week.

Ukraine has long been pushing for permission to strike targets deep within Russia with the weapons supplied largely by the U.S., Britain and other allies, despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s concern about provoking Moscow into further escalating the nearly three-year war.

But a growing number of those allies — including Canada — are saying the restrictions are hampering Ukraine’s ability to win the war and force Russia into peace talks.

Trudeau told reporters outside the UN he had “a number of those conversations directly with leaders” during meetings on Monday when asked if he is making progress in growing consensus for the change in policy.

“We need the war to end. We need Ukraine to win this war,” he said.

“That’s why Canada and so many others are so unequivocal about ensuring that Ukraine has the tools to defend itself against this illegal invasion, including diminishing Russia’s capacity to launch further attacks into Ukraine.”

Trudeau said earlier this month that Ukraine should be allowed to strike within Russian territory with western-supplied weapons, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that lifting the long-range weapons restrictions would draw NATO into a direct war with Moscow.

Ukraine and NATO allies have dismissed Putin’s comments as empty threats.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week acknowledged Biden’s concerns about escalation but noted “not everyone around him thinks so.” He said the longer western partners wait to allow the use of long-range missiles, the more