Freeland’s View of Global Clash of Ideologies Has Putin, Russia at Its Heart

Chrystia Freeland addresses the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 2, 2018 in Mexico City. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images) / Vladimir Putin addresses the crowd during a rally and a concert celebrating the fourth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea at Manezhnaya Square in Moscow on March 18, 2018. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AFP/Getty Images

OTTAWA—Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland sees the clash between the forces of democracy and authoritarianism as a defining conflict of our time, and she blames one country that she knows extremely well—Russia.

That world view will form the frame for Freeland and her fellow G7 foreign ministers as they meet Sunday to tackle the security threats imperilling the planet, and she’s placing the disruptive Vladimir Putin at the centre of that picture.