The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, received yesterday at the Department’s headquarters in Madrid her Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, with whom she discussed the shipment of military material to Ukraine and who assured her that anti-aircraft defense and artillery are, at the moment, the “number one priorities” of her country in the face of the Russian invasion.
During the meeting, in which Robles expressed her “total and absolute” support to Ukraine for “as long as necessary”, the Chief of Defense Staff (JEMAD), Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, and the Secretary General of Defense Policy (SEGENPOL), Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez, were present. On behalf of the Ukrainian delegation, the ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev, and the chief of staff of the Navy, Rear Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa, attended.
“It is an honor and satisfaction to receive my dear friend Oleksii, with whom I was in Odessa. Spain and Ukraine are very close at the moment,” Robles stated during the joint press conference following the meeting. According to the minister, during the bilateral meeting they discussed, “always with the obvious prudence and discretion because we are in a war”, Spain’s future military aid, because “Ukraine is not only defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity, it is defending our values, the values of the community that believes in peace and democracy”.
Likewise, Robles assured that Spain will continue with the training work, since “more than a thousand Ukrainian military have been and are being trained here in Spain”, and reiterated that, “in the next” days it is planned to send by sea six Leopard 2A4 battle tanks after having undergone a repair process in Alcalá de Guadaira, as well as 20 TOA vehicles.
For his part, the Ukrainian minister said he was “absolutely sure that Ukraine will win this war” and expressed his gratitude to the minister and to the Spanish government as a whole for their political, diplomatic and humanitarian support. “My priority is to keep our servicemen alive, so I am very grateful for what we are receiving from Spain,” he said. “We hope that by the end of this month the Leopards will start roaring in Ukraine with a Spanish accent,” he added.
Likewise, Reznikov informed that, during the meeting with the Spanish delegation, he explained that the top priorities for his country are anti-aircraft defense and artillery and asked Spain to supply naval assistance, especially against mines, and more ammunition for artillery, specifically of 155 and 105 calibers. “For us anti-aircraft systems are the number one priority,” the Ukrainian minister continued.
Besides, Reznikov highlighted the experience of the Spanish Navy in the field of amphibious vehicles and landings, key to guarantee security in the Black Sea and in maritime traffic and transport and, therefore, of great importance for a country like Ukraine, which is a major agricultural producer. In this sense, he assured that, thanks to the Coalition and to part of the Spanish material, it is being guaranteed that the grain reaches the African countries and their famine can be alleviated. “The Spanish Navy is one of the most considered, experienced and best in the world and we are interested in everything that can help us to raise our level and capabilities,” he said.
Oleksii Reznikov also took advantage of his presence in Madrid to visit Ukrainian personnel receiving treatment at the Central Defense Hospital Gomez Ulla, where he thanked the work of doctors treating his wounded compatriots, and held a videoconference with other Ukrainian servicemen admitted to the General Defense Hospital Orad y Gajías in Zaragoza. A total of 57 wounded Ukrainian servicemen were transferred to both hospitals by the Spanish air force. Some of them have already been discharged.
