Luis Ayllón
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, arrived in Kiev after eight o’clock this morning for his first visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion of the country, The Diplomat has learned from diplomatic sources.
Albares left Madrid on Tuesday, flying to Rzeszów airport in Poland. From there he drove to the city of Pzemyzil, where he took an overnight train to the Ukrainian capital.
The Spanish minister plans to make a series of contacts in Kiev with representatives of Ukrainian institutions, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmitri Kuleva, with whom he had a telephone conversation on 12 October, in which he told him about the military aid that Spain was going to provide to Ukraine, and they finalised the details of the visit.
Albares, who travelled to Kiev on 8 February, just a couple of weeks before the Russian invasion, has had the opportunity to meet with Kuleva at international forums, where he reiterated Spain’s support for Ukraine.
The sources did not specify which other people Albares will meet with during his stay in Kiev, nor whether there could be a meeting with the president, Volodimir Zelenski.
What is on his agenda is to visit some areas of Kiev and nearby towns to learn about the devastating effects of the Russian attacks.
He will also hand over to the Ukrainian authorities a consignment of 30 ambulances donated by Spain and pay tribute to the war dead.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, travelled to Kiev on 21 April to personally convey Spain’s support to Zelenski in his fight against the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin.
