Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Friday, February 21, 2025 at 11:07
Pedro Sánchez has stated that he will “reaffirm Spain’s support for Ukrainian democracy and President Zelenskyy” during his upcoming visit to Kyiv on 24 February. The third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine coincides with his fourth visit. President Sánchez’s gesture of support aims to legitimise the Ukrainian government and the eastern country’s territorial integrity, amid escalated tension from re-elected US president Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The meeting between Spanish and Ukrainian leaders comes at a crucial moment after Donald Trump shifted US policy towards talks with the Kremlin to impose a peace that ignores those who have been invaded, and sideslines Europe and Nato.
“On Monday, I will be in Kyiv to reaffirm Spain’s support for Ukrainian democracy and President Zelensky,” Sánchez announced on his X account – the social media platform belonging to tycoon Elon Musk, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) advisor.
The Spanish President’s statement was made just hours after a new attack by the reelected US president, who openly referred to the Ukrainian leader as a “dictator” and endorsed Russian tactics. The US is holding talks with Russia without Ukraine, warning Zelensky to compromise if the US and Russia do not reach an agreement on ending hostilities.
The head of the Spanish Government will make his fourth trip to Kyiv. This is due to security concerns, and a desire to defend both Ukraine and Europe from the Russian invasion. Previously, Sánchez met with Zelensky at the beginning of the war, on the first anniversary of the invasion and during Spain’s rotating presidency of the Union in the second half of 2023. These meetings were only held on Ukrainian soil. They also met in Davos, Switzerland (January) at the Davos economic summit and in La Moncloa, Spain on May 27, 2024.
Trump’s shift in approach to the invasion frames the context of Sánchez’s upcoming trip to Kyiv. The Spanish president was present at the emergency meeting in Paris, convened by Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of the EU. The meeting’s objective was to create an image of European unity and to activate diplomacy against the forced solution Trump and Putin seek to form, in an alliance which shakes the foundations for international order to a degree not seen since the Cold War or the fall of Berlin Wall.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Sánchez’s government has advocated a ‘just and lasting peace’ for Ukraine that respects the country’s territorial integrity, with Kyiv and Brussels as the leading figures. The Spanish president said that after the Paris summit, which ended with no concrete initiatives being established, there was no way to resolve the conflict that rewards the invading forces or leads to a false closure.
During these three years of conflict in Ukraine, neither the government nor the main opposition have reached a consensus on how to deal with a conflict which, in addition, has plunged Europeans into a severe crisis of inflation. Even without formal consensus, Sánchez and Feijóo (leader of PP) have maintained their respective support for the Ukrainians. In a tweet posted on Wednesday, he reiterated that Russia was responsible for the war because of its “aggression against international law”. He warned that a peace which “cannot be beneficial to the aggressor” would not work.
Even though there are many shared opinions, tensions in the country remain high. Sánchez will travel to Kyiv on the eve of the congress meeting promoted by Junts (Catalonia’s political party), which casts doubts on his majority support. The allies on the left reject a rise in the defense budget. Nato’s goal is 2% of GDP. Spain falls behind in this area. In the meantime, PP demands that the president discusses any decisions with Feijóo, if he wants support in this area.
