With a 40-minute delay, Pedro Sánchez and Volodímir Zelenski entered the press room of the Palace of Chimeras in Kiev –a room too small for the number of journalists, photographers and cameras we were waiting for–, after the meeting behind closed doors. between the Spanish and Ukrainian delegations.
They entered ready to stage the support that Europe continues to give Ukraine. A seamless support that, Zelenski said, “encouraged his fighters at the front” at a time as delicate as this – in which the counteroffensive is not advancing as fast as everyone expected.
The face of the Ukrainian president reflected concern, and probably the exhaustion caused by the dizzying pace of interviews with international leaderspatrons and even CIA directors who have passed through kyiv in recent days.
[Rusia ataca Kiev horas después de que Pedro Sánchez finalizase su visita a la capital ucraniana]
Sánchez, for his part, was exultant at the start of his mandate at the head of the European Union: smiling and wearing a suit without a tie that gave him a more youthful appearance, he brought the list well prepared with the breakdown of aid that Europe has given to Ukraine to date. He left for the end the announcement of 50,000 million euros of European funds, which will be injected over the next 4 years, in addition to the commitments of each country at a particular level.
In the case of Spain, these commitments include 55 million euros for reconstruction4 Leopard tanks that had yet to be delivered –thus making a total of 10–, more armored vehicles and a field hospital with surgical capacity, in addition to the training of 10 Ukrainian doctors to manage them.
Sánchez and Zelenski embrace in kyiv
Government of Spain
And although medical assistance near the tough Ukrainian combat fronts is never enough, Zelensky was not very impressed with the field hospital, and took advantage of his turn to speak to ask –once again– for the F-16s he needs to come back his counteroffensive.
“We agreed and confirmed with a number of countries that they would start training Ukrainian pilots, but there is no schedule for training missions yet. I think some partners are delaying this,” the Ukrainian president said at a time during his appearance in which he even changed his tone of voice, showing a mixture of anger and frustration.
a real threat
Zelensky began his speech by assuring that without freedom in Ukraine, there will be no freedom in the rest of Europe either. He took the bull by the horns as soon as he entered the arena and, although he paused briefly to thank Spain for the help he had received since the Russian invasion began, he also had his list of demands well prepared: the accession to the European Union, receive artillery and aviation as soon as possible and their membership in NATO guaranteed “when the war is over”.
And to demonstrate the urgency of their requests, I do not hesitate to warn about the real possibility of a Russian attack on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant – the largest in Europe. In this sense, the Ukrainian president assured that he did not understand why sanctions have not been decreed that force the Russian company Rosatom – the largest nuclear company in the Kremlin – to return control of the plant to the Ukrainian atomic energy agency.
Sánchez visits a hospital in kyiv
Government of Spain
He went a step further by explaining that this process had to be done with international guarantees because, according to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia could take the opportunity to blow up the nuclear power plant if it is forced to abandon it, and “later blame Ukraine as happened with the Nova dam Kakhovka”.
“Our union has to be stronger than the Russian dictatorship”assured Zelenski, to refocus on the need for Ukraine to belong to the EU and Spain to facilitate the process from the presidency of Sánchez.
He also asked for Spain’s support for the next Vilnius summit: “We need a very clear and understandable signal that Ukraine can and has the right to become an equal member of NATO after the war”
Crimea back
When it was time for questions, the large delegation of Spanish journalists who were present agreed to ask the Spanish president if he saw able to mediate between Ukraine and Latin America to turn around the dangerous – and growing trend – that justifies the Russian invasion in these latitudes.
However, Sánchez downplayed this fact – despite the fact that presidents like Lula da Silva have publicly positioned themselves in this regard – and said he was sure that everyone on the other side of the Atlantic condemned the invasion and Russian war crimes.
Perhaps unaware to what extent Russian propaganda has permeated Latin American countries, such as Brazil, Venezuela, and increasingly Argentina and Mexico, Pedro Sánchez He did not show concern about these campaigns in support of Russia -which have jumped from the online sphere and social networks, to the parliaments of some countries-, and concluded by reiterating support for the peace process in Ukraine.
[Los mercenarios del grupo Wagner dejan la lucha en Ucrania pero seguirán combatiendo en África]
Zelensky was asked, in this last section of the appearance, about the possibility of accepting as valid the pre-invasion borders launched by Russia on February 24, 2022. Resoundingly, the Ukrainian president replied no: “we will only accept the borders that International Law contemplates.”
These borders include the Crimean peninsula as a legitimate part of Ukrainian territory, since the UN has so far not recognized its annexation to the Russian Federation. If it is true that Ukraine is willing to reach Crimea, perhaps the war has only just begun.
Good tune, but few headlines
Sánchez, who arrived in the Ukrainian capital by train from Poland -as in the two previous visits- was received by Zelenski at the foot of the stairs of the Palace of Chimeras, where they merged into a meaning hug before starting your meeting.
Cordiality and closeness set the tone of the meeting at all times, and proof of this was that during the joint appearance before the press, the Ukrainian president addressed the Spanish president by his first name, “Pedro”, a detail that was not went unnoticed by those present.
After a private lunch, the official meeting concluded in the afternoon at the Hospital of the Border Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. We were not able to access the journalists there either, for whom the short time during which we were able to observe the reactions of the two leaders who are currently dealing with the issue of peace in Europe was somewhat scarce.
