The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, arrived early this Thursday morning by train to Kyiv to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodímir Zelenskiand convey Spain’s support to Ukraine, one day before the one year anniversary of the beginning of the Russian military invasion. As this newspaper advanced yesterday, the visit, at the invitation of his Ukrainian counterpart, according to government sourcesse fits within the “commitment of Spain with the allies” and against the “illegal invasion” of Russia on the Ukraine.
“I return to Kyiv a year after the start of the war,” Sánchez wrote on his Twitter account. “We will be next to Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe,” added the ruler, who posted a video showing him getting off the train and walking down the station platform in the Ukrainian capital.
This is Sánchez’s second visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, who already traveled to Ukraine in April of last year. It is expected that during the day, Sánchez visit the city of Bucha and the neighborhood of Irpin. A year ago, the president traveled to the town of Borodyanka. “Shocked to see the horror and atrocities of Putin’s war on the streets of Borodyanka. We will not leave the Ukrainian people alone,” he published on his social networks at the time.
The head of the Spanish Executive will make a floral offering to the fallen in the war before meeting with President Zelensky. After the meeting, both will appear before the press. Later, they will tour the Paseo de los Valientes, where there is a plaque that recalls Sánchez’s visit to Ukraine in April 2022 and finally, They will travel to the Ukrainian Parliament, where Sánchez is expected to deliver a speech before the plenary.
The head of the Spanish Government is the third foreign leader to visit Kyiv this week, after the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the head of the Italian Government, Giorgia Meloni, who were on the ground Monday and Tuesday. Sánchez was received at the Kiev train station by the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Ukrainian Ambassador in Madrid and the Spanish Ambassador to Ukraine.
This second trip of Sánchez seeks to cultivate its international profile on the eve of Spain assuming the rotating presidency of the European Council in the second half of the year. The president plans to visit 15 countries, in five tours, before July to prepare for this mandate, which will have an impact ahead of the general elections and in which one of the main focuses of attention will undoubtedly be the war in Ukraine .
The visit also takes place one day after his Defense Minister, Daisy Robleswill announce that Spain will send six “Leopard” battle tanks to Zelenski, who hopes to have these German-made armored vehicles to face the Russian offensive and regain the initiative in the war.