Zelenskyy calls for pressure on Russia during 1st face-to-face meeting with Carney

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday to add Canada's weight behind global pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit at the negotiating table and agree to "an unconditional ceasefire."

During the first face-to-face meeting between Zelenskyy and Carney, who secured a mandate in last month's federal election, the Ukrainian president said the pressure on Putin was necessary to "make peace as quick as possible."

The two leaders met in Rome on the eve of Pope Leo XIV's installation and ahead of the G7 summit that Carney is hosting in Kananaskis, Alta., from June 15 to 17.

"There can be no peace without the full support and participation of Ukraine," Carney told Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president has accepted Carney's invitation to attend the G7 meetings, which are being held amid mounting activity around finding a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine — which began when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

Carney also held bilateral meetings with European leaders to personally lay the groundwork for the summit — one of the main purposes of his first overseas trip.

The Liberal prime minister met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is also attending the G7, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who hosted last year's G7 summit. She greeted Carney at the Chigi Palace in Rome with the playing of the Canadian national anthem and acknowledged this has not been an easy moment for Canada.

"Truly with the partnership between Italy, your leadership, our partnership, we can bring the G7 to a new level where we build on our values and we deliver prosperity for our citizens," Carney told Meloni.

Carney's meeting with Zelenskyy came against the backdrop of high-stakes peace talks in Turkey that failed to secure a truce but did lead to a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he plans to speak separately to Putin and Zelenskyy on Monday in an effort to reach a ceasefire.

Pope Leo, who was elected pontiff on May 8 following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, is also offering the Vatican as a venue for future peace talks.

Carney reiterated Canada's support for Ukraine, but he did not provide details on what that would entail under his government.

Roland Paris, director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said Carney is "laying down markers" that Canada will continue to be a steadfast ally of Ukraine.

"That's a really important relationship for him to continue to build because it's going to be complicated in the years to come," Paris said.

Jason Easton, who was a senior adviser to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, said the war in Ukraine would be a dominant topic of discussions during the G7 in Alberta, no matter the outcome of Trump's latest peacemaking efforts.

"It's a realistic possibility and a realistic expectation that a post-ceasefire landscape and arrangement be discussed amongst G7 leaders," he said.

Easton said that while this trip to Rome for Pope Leo's inaugural mass may be personally meaningful for Carney as a practising Catholic, the prime minister was also using the occasion to reassert Canada's place in the world.

"After months of President Trump questioning Canada's ability to exist, its right to exist, this is an opportunity for Prime Minister Carney to show that Canada is a credible and principled leader on the world stage," he said.

Carney is travelling with his wife, Diana Fox Carney, and their daughter Cleo. He's also brought a 19-person delegation to represent Canada at the Pope's installation, including members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Indigenous leaders, senators and Liberal MPs.

His office said it invited 13 Liberal MPs, who are either practising Catholics or represent ridings with large numbers of Catholics.

About 30 per cent of Canada's population identifies as Catholic.

Several former cabinet ministers, including Jean-Yves Duclos, Mona Fortier and Arielle Kayabaga, were invited.

"What our prime minister is doing is showing leadership," said MP Jaime Battiste, who dropped out of the Liberal leadership race earlier this year to support Carney and is on the trip.

"What we need to do is reach out to like-minded countries and talk about trade, talk about the future of the world, talk about peace."