The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, highlighted yesterday at the Pentagon the “strong ties” between Spain and the United States and the need to continue helping Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Robles held a meeting yesterday at the Pentagon, in Washington, with Lloyd Austin, in which they discussed the upcoming NATO Summit in Madrid and, above all, the evolution of the conflict in Ukraine and in which both agreed on the need to continue supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces with military and humanitarian aid, as reported by the Ministry of Defense in a press release.
During her meeting with Austin – which was attended by the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, Santiago Ansorena, and the Secretary General of Defense Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez – Robles paid tribute, “as a European”, to the American sacrifice “in defense of freedom in Europe during the two world wars, and during the dark years of the Cold War, ensuring that the flame of freedom, democracy and human rights was never extinguished in Europe”.
According to the Minister, this commitment has been renewed these days in the face of the aggression of Vladimir Putin’s Russia against Ukraine. She therefore stressed the importance that the NATO Summit in Madrid (to be held at the end of June) should serve to reaffirm the “commitment to defend the principles that unite us and to reinforce the spirit of solidarity that is at the heart of NATO”.
For his part, the U.S. Secretary of Defense praised Spain’s leadership on the southern flank and its participation in collective defense on the eastern flank and highlighted “Spain’s humanitarian and defense assistance to Ukraine.” “Spain is an absolute friend of the United States, we could not be more grateful,” he declared. “These are times that call for solidarity and we are very hopeful because we have never seen NATO more united,” he continued. “That is why we are especially grateful to Spain for hosting the next NATO Summit, which will be very important.” They also both stressed the importance of increasing Defense investments and Secretary Austin thanked Spanish President Pedro Sanchez for his commitment to making progress towards the 2% target.
Robles’ official acts in Washington, in what was her first official trip as Minister of Defense to the United States, began with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where she participated in a floral tribute at the tomb of the unknown soldier and visited the tomb with the “eternal flame” of President John F. Kennedy and those of other members of his family. Arlington Cemetery, which opened in 1864, houses the remains of numerous presidents, Supreme Court justices, astronauts and more than 400,000 military personnel, veterans and their immediate families. Later, the minister traveled to the Pentagon, where she had a working lunch with U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro, prior to her bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Lloyd Austin.
