Martin and Trudeau agree on consequences for Russia over Ukraine

Taoiseach and Canadian PM say democracies must unite in opposition to ‘immoral war’

There has to be and will be consequences for Putin's Russia on foot of the invasion of Ukraine, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau have agreed.

The two leaders held a 30-minute conversation on Friday while Mr Martin was in Washington.

A Government spokesman said the Taoiseach was "feeling well and continuing with his work" following his positive test for Covid-19 on Wednesday. Confirmation of infection came on the eve of a scheduled meeting with US president Joe Biden.

Government sources said that in the talks on Friday Mr Martin and Mr Trudeau had agreed that “like-minded democracies across the world should unite in opposition to the immoral war on Ukraine”.

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The two leaders also discussed the need to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

Ten-day stay in US

The Taoiseach said they had agreed “there has to be and will be consequences for Putin’s Russia”.

Earlier on Friday the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said he believed the the Taoiseach must stay in the United States for 10 days from the date of his positive test.

“My understanding is that the protocol in the US is that if you test positive, you don’t travel internationally for 10 days and my understanding is that the Taoiseach’s intention is to respect that and so that in all likelihood means he won’t be home until 26 March.”

Mr Coveney said that the Taoiseach would continue to work while he is in the US and hold meetings remotely.

Mr Martin is now expected to miss the planned EU leaders' summit meeting scheduled to take place in Brussels next week.

Martin Wall

Martin Wall

Martin Wall is the former Washington Correspondent of The Irish Times. He was previously industry correspondent