EU: VDL, Trudeau Pledge Support For Ukraine And Cooperation On Minerals

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced continuing support for Ukraine and pledged greater cooperation in critical minerals to relief dependence on China.

• Trudeau: "The new Canada-EU enhanced action plan on hydrogen will mobilise investment... and get clear Canadian hydrogen to Europe."
• VDL: "Europe needs to derisk this dependency on China... Canada is the only country in the northern hemisphere with all the raw materials needed to produce lithium ion batteries."
• DW wrote of VDL's trip: "[The EU] is racing to end fossil fuel reliance on Moscow and ramp up production of homegrown renewable energy. But that will require more access to critical minerals and raw materials like lithium, cobalt, or rare earth metals..."
• Sam Ayoub Canada-Europe Chamber of Commerce (EUCCAN) says Canada is now "starting to be a natural answer and solution for the European Union [in critical minerals]."
• Canada's Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said in January announcing the approval of a new Lithium mine: "The government is committed to making Canada the global supplier of choice for sustainably and responsibly sourced critical minerals, from exploration and extraction, to manufacturing and recycling..."