SHARE
COPY LINK

UKRAINE

Spanish PM to travel to Kyiv ‘in coming days’

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will travel to Kyiv "in the coming days,", a government spokeswoman said Tuesday without providing the exact date for security reasons.

Spanish PM to travel to Kyiv 'in coming days'
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (C) delivers a speech during his visit of a reception centre for Ukrainian refugees in Barcelona. More than 4.5 million Ukrainians have fled their country; around 25,000 of them have come to Spain. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP)

The announcement came a day after Spain said it would reopen its Ukrainian embassy in Kyiv “in a number of days”.

Sanchez “will travel to Kyiv in the coming days, you will understand that I can’t give you more information about the visit for security reasons,” government spokeswoman Isabel Rodriguez told a press conference.

“It is a way of showing our commitment to the Ukrainian people and government,” she added after a regular weekly cabinet meeting.

Sanchez is following in the footsteps of several other European leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, who have gone to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion of the country in a show of support.

Spain is providing aid to Ukraine through military equipment, humanitarian aid and by welcoming tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.

The country has so far sent 12 planes with tons of weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said Monday.

“We will send as many planes are as necessary,” she added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky compared Russia’s devastating assault on his country to the Nazis’ 1937 bombing of the northern Spanish town of Guernica in an address to Spain’s parliament earlier this month.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

UKRAINE

Spain against deploying EU troops to Ukraine

Spain on Tuesday said it was against any deployment of European troops in Ukraine after France's Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out sending Western soldiers.

Spain against deploying EU troops to Ukraine

“As to whether we are in favour of deploying European troops to Ukraine, we’ve already made our position clear and we do not agree,” said government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría.

“We must concentrate on the most urgent thing, which is to speed up the delivery of (military) equipment” to Kyiv, she said, saying “unity” was Europe’s “most effective weapon” against Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Macron triggered a shockwave late on Monday by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

“There is no consensus today to send ground troops… but nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war,” he said.

He refused to say more about France’s position, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity” but saying the issue was mentioned among the options”.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was quoted as saying some EU and NATO members were weighing the option.

“Many people who say ‘never, ever’ today were the same people who said ‘never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles’ two years ago” when Russia invaded, said Macron. “Let us have the humility to note that we have often been six to twelve months late.”

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also rejected the idea of European or NATO countries sending troops to Ukraine.

SHOW COMMENTS