The Diplomat
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, will soon travel to Spain to sign a bilateral security agreement with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in order to guarantee sustained long-term military support.
As reported by El País, Radio Nacional de España and Cadena SER, among other media, Zelenski will sign with Sánchez an agreement similar to the one signed with countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark or Canada to guarantee sustained military support (delivery of arms and troop training) in the long term pending its accession to NATO or the European Union.
The visit, for which no dates have been announced (although Moncloa sources indicated to the Efe agency that it could be imminent), will be Zelensky’s second to Spain since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The first took place last October, when he participated in Granada in the third meeting of the European Political Community.
On that occasion, the Ukrainian president received the unanimous support of fifty European heads of State and Government against Russia’s aggression and had the opportunity to meet bilaterally with the main European leaders, including King Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez. On this occasion, official sources hinted to The Diplomat that Zelensky could be received by the Monarch again at the Zarzuela Palace.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, was asked yesterday about Zelensky’s possible visit during a press conference at the Ministry headquarters, but he neither confirmed nor ruled out the news and limited himself to reiterating that Spain will continue to support Ukraine “everything as long as necessary in all areas” in the face of the “unjust and unjustified” invasion of Russia.
On May 7, Pedro Sánchez held a telephone conversation with Volodymir Zelensky in which he reiterated Spain’s support for Ukraine “for as long as necessary” and in which both addressed the “urgent and significant” increase in military support that Spain is lending to his Government, as well as “the progress of the Security Agreement between both countries,” according to Moncloa.
Negotiations to sign the agreement began in March and have already concluded, according to diplomatic sources. The text is pending approval by the Council of Ministers and will not require ratification by Congress as it does not have the legal status of an international treaty.
Marlaska’s meeting with the Ukrainian ambassador
Yesterday, the Ministry of the Interior reported that the head of the department, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, met with the Ukrainian ambassador in Madrid, Serhii Pohoreltsev, to sign an agreement for the sending of security material and access to evidence on possible war crimes collected by the Spanish Police Support Team (EPA) – made up of National Police and Civil Guard officers – sent to Ukraine in December 2022 and which investigated possible war crimes.
In addition, Grande-Marlaska and Pohoreltsev discussed an agreement to send security equipment donated by the Ministry of the Interior to Ukraine, which will include digital devices and vehicles.
