Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed to take in Ukrainian refugees during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
Why it matters: Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has caused a new refugee crisis in Europe, with more than 4.3 million refugees having already fled since the start of the war.
- The United Nations refugee agency has labeled the exodus the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
- Nearly 6.5 million people have been internally displaced within Ukraine, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated last month.
What they're saying: "Canada has always been a country to welcome in refugees," Trudeau said, making note of his country's historically large Ukrainian community and adding that Canada has "created rapid pathways" for Ukrainian refugees.
- "We've already taken in over 14,000 and we're continuing to do many, many more,” Trudeau said.
- Von der Leyen said it was "amazing to see the open hearts and the open doors of the European people mainly in the front-line countries like Poland, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, just to name a few. They are very much willing to take these refugees in — more than 4 million.”
- "Yesterday I was in Kyiv. I saw President [Volodymyr] Zelensky and I promised to him that we're going to take good care of the refugees until they can return safely home. That is very important to rebuild their country," she added.
Von der Leyen added that "we have to do more" to help Ukraine, be it more sanctions, weapons deliveries and financial support.
- "Whatever is necessary is being done, and we know we're in for a long haul here to fight Putin's aggression, to defend the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine."