Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced this Monday the upcoming shipment of 70 generators to Ukraine “to help cope with the winter in the face of Russian attacks on its electrical infrastructure.”
Albares announced this on social media after meeting in Luxembourg, on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (EAC), with his “friend and Ukrainian counterpart,” Andrii Sybiha. “I have reiterated Spain’s firm support for Ukraine,” he wrote. “We will send 70 generators with AECID (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation) to help cope with the winter in the face of Russian attacks on its electrical infrastructure,” he added.
For his part, Sybiha wrote on social media that the two ministers had discussed “ways to strengthen Ukraine’s defense and energy resilience, including military-technical cooperation, and Spain’s important contribution to the PURL and SAFE programs.”
The Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) is an Alliance plan to assist Ukraine through the acquisition of weapons from the United States. Twenty countries, excluding Spain, have already joined the list. Last week, Defense Minister Margarita Robles warned in Brussels that NATO’s current priority is to increase aid to Ukraine and, in this regard, did not rule out the possibility of Spain participating in this initiative. The Security Action Programme for Europe (SAFE), the European defense fund, is endowed with €150 billion.
“I thanked Spain for the announced energy assistance to Ukraine—70 generators—which will arrive soon. We value this assistance to Ukrainian people ahead of winter,” continued Andrii Sybiha. “I stressed the need for further sanctions pressure on Russia through the 19th EU sanctions package, as well as visa limitation measures,” he added.
“We also see potential for city-to-city and regional partnerships between Ukraine and Spain. I deeply appreciate Spain’s commitment to the rehabilitation of Ukrainian children from frontline areas,” the Ukrainian minister wrote. “Grateful for Spain’s steadfast support. Looking forward to welcoming José Manuel Albares in Kyiv soon,” he concluded.
