Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel about 36,000 kilometres over the next 10 days for a series of European and Asian summits, crossing two oceans to avoid Russian airspace.
A meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is perhaps the most consequential item on his agenda at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Shenzhen, China, the final stop on his tour.
"We will discuss many things," Carney said in Montreal on Tuesday, listing the "security situation around the world" as well as the two countries' economic partnership — "something that is deepening but has clear guardrails."
Carney also said Canada would finally replace its ambassador to China. The post has been unfilled for six months, but Carney said the person has been selected and the two sides are in the process of agreeing on the appointment. "It's a little longer than we would have liked," he said. "We would hope to make the announcement in very short order."
First stop in Dublin for European Political Community summit
Carney's first destination is Dublin, Ireland, where the European Political Community is holding its ninth summit on Thursday. The EPC is a venue where EU members can meet with non-members such as the UK, Turkey, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
Since 2022, Ukraine has often been the main topic at EPC events, and that is expected to be the case in Dublin too, with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance.
Ireland has suffered a wave of bomb threats and cyberattacks in recent days that the government of Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said have a "Russian dimension." Several Aer Lingus and Ryanair flights were delayed or diverted, and office buildings in Dublin, including national broadcaster RTÉ, had to be evacuated.
Carney is joining the summit as the only non-European invitee. It will be his second EPC summit, after attending one in Yerevan, Armenia, in May. It follows a Canada-EU summit in Montreal and fits into Carney's agenda of greater integration with Europe.
