Eduardo González
The President of Ukraine, Volodymir Zelenski, yesterday finally made his long-awaited speech before the Congress, in which he asked “Europe to stop being afraid” and intensify its pressure on Russia to end the war and denounced that, despite international sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime, some European companies, including several Spanish ones, continue “doing business with the country that is destroying our country”.
“Russia came to make war on our land long ago, not yesterday or the day before yesterday; because we are defending our state from Russian aggression since 2014, with the occupation of our Crimea and, subsequently, of the Ukrainian Donbass”, denounced Zelenski during his message via videoconference from Kiev, after being received with a loud applause from all those attending the hemicycle, among which were almost the entire Government, the presidents of the Congress, Meritxell Batet, and the Senate, Ander Gil; parliamentarians from both Chambers, the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohorelsev (who also received a standing ovation), and the ambassadors of more than twenty European countries and of the United States and Canada, among others.
“We are now 41 days into a large-scale aggression, the largest since World War II,” because “Russia wants not only to destroy the people of Ukraine, but the possibility of living without a dictatorship and without violence, the possibility of open democracy and peaceful coexistence between different communities,” he continued. “We are in April 2022, but it seems that we are in April 1937, when everyone heard about the Guernica bomber,” the Ukrainian leader said, referring to one of the most emblematic attacks of the Spanish Civil War. “Imagine normal cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants without food and medicine because the Russian Army has blockaded the city. In Mariupol there is nothing, only ruins, 90% buildings have been collapsed and dead people have appeared buried in the courtyards where they lived, bombs have been dropped on buildings where children were sheltering,” he assured.
“Russia is not serious about peace and we don’t know how long this war can last until the world does everything for peace,” Zelenski warned. That is why, he continued, “the strongest possible sanctions” need to be adopted. “How are Russian banks allowed to make profits while civilians are being tortured? How are there European companies trading with a country that destroys our country? How are there countries that continue to buy oil from Russia?” he asked.
“I know that many Spanish companies have stopped operating in Russia and we thank the companies, the people and the society, but, at the same time, I ask other companies, such as Porcelanosa, Maxam, Sercobe and others that you know better, to stop doing business with Russia,” he warned. In this regard, Porcelanosa assured the Europa Press agency yesterday that it interrupted its commercial relationship with Russia last March, after the partial exclusion of this country from the international payment system Swift in the framework of international sanctions, while Sercobe “categorically” denied that it is doing any business with Russian companies or organizations and declared that it complies “rigorously with international legality”. Maxam, an industrial group in the chemical and armaments sector with nine subsidiaries in Russia, has not commented.
According to Zelenski, Russia “is not only destroying Ukraine, but all the European values that unite us, democracy, human rights” and, therefore, “we have to do more so that Russia begins to seek peace and begins to respect international law”. For this reason, he warned, “it is necessary for Europe to stop being afraid and to be strong, to put the values of democracy above Russia’s threats”. “I ask that not only Spain, but other countries, help Ukraine; we appreciate the support they are giving us with weapons, but you can support us more with strong sanctions and without fear of Russia, because democracy should not be afraid,” he concluded.
Sánchez asks Putin to “sit down seriously at the negotiating table”
After Zelenski’s intervention, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, assured the hemicycle that Ukraine is “an example of dignity and also of resistance in the face of the brutal aggression of Putin’s government.” “Spain supports the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine in its internationally recognized borders,” he continued. “And I want to call on Putin from here, from Madrid, to sit down seriously at the negotiating table and put an end to the war,” he warned.
“We are facing a frontal attack on the principles and values of democracy, of freedom, of equality, of political pluralism,” but “allow me to send a message of encouragement to the Ukrainian people and to tell them unequivocally, emphatically, that Putin is not going to achieve his purpose,” Sánchez continued. “Our commitment is firm. Spain and all its public institutions are firmly committed to supporting Ukraine, as is Spanish society as a whole, which has once again set an example of solidarity,” he assured.
“I want to assure you, President Zelenski, that we are going to continue that support in every way we can. Politically, we will continue to support, as we have done so far, the toughest sanctions against the Putin regime. We will also continue to provide humanitarian aid and financial assistance. And also, of course, we will continue to send military equipment so that Ukraine can exercise its right to self-defense, enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter,” the Prime Minister said. Besides, “Ukraine has already submitted its application for formal accession to the European Union, thus taking on a great challenge. Ukraine will be able to count on the support of Spain in this path of transformation, of adaptation, because Ukraine is part of the European family and I have no doubt about the outcome of this process”, he concluded.
