On 1 July, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Kyiv on the occasion of the start of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Sánchez’s Twitter account published footage of his arrival in Kyiv by train, with the PM’s comment:
“I wanted the first event of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU to be in Ukraine together with [President Zelenskyy]. I will convey to your Government and Parliament all the European solidarity,” Sánchez said.
PM Sánchez addressed the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) and met with President Zelenskyy. This is the third visit of Spain’s Prime Minister to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.
Speaking to the Parliament, Mr. Sánchez pledged to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and “regardless of the price to be paid,” and announced a new aid package of 55 million euros for Ukraine, according to El Mundo.
No official statements on the meeting of Zelenskyy and Sánchez were released at the moment of publication of this article.
Earlier PM Sánchez stated that Ukraine has Spain’s support to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU during the period of the Spanish presidency, according to El Mundo.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel reported that speaking to Spanish journalists before the meeting with Sánchez, the Ukrainian President said Kyiv counts on Spain’s support as the EU accession negotiations will start within the upcoming “decisive” six months of Madrid’s EU presidency.
“We (Ukraine and Spain, – Ed.) have a common task – to work with the countries of Latin America and involve as many of them as possible in the implementation of our Peace Formula. We talked about this (with Spanish journalists, – Ed.), as well as about the appalling situation at the ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, – Ed.). The split in Russia and our expectations from the NATO summit in Vilnius,” the post on Zelenskyy’s telegram reads.
Follow-up:
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