The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has arrived by train in kyiv this Thursday morning, at the start of a trip together with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, in which they will meet with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The president’s agenda is kept secret for security reasons, except for three appointments with Zelensky: a working lunch, a bilateral interview and a joint press conference.
Other European leaders who have visited Ukraine this month have also traveled to some of the towns around kyiv, such as Borodianka or Bucha, marked by destruction or signs of war crimes during the period in which they were occupied by Russian troops. .
Frederiksen has announced the joint arrival in a statement released on his social networks in which he has expressed his admiration for Zelenski and the Ukrainian people for their “bravery” and their defense of the country “in the face of the illegal and unprovoked war of [Vladímir] Putin”.
This Tuesday, during a visit to the reception center for Ukrainian refugees in Malaga, Sánchez explained that he will convey to Zelenski “the resounding, unequivocal commitment of the European Union and without a doubt of the Government of Spain, Spanish society and the whole of its institutions for peace. “It is a cruel, unjust and illegal war that we condemn […] We are going to do everything in our power to guarantee peace as soon as possible”, he added, emphasizing that, while the conflict lasts – which celebrates its 57th day on Wednesday – Spain will continue to deliver humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.
134,000 people have arrived in Spain from Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, on February 24, and some 64,000 of them have already received the temporary protection order, Sánchez said this Tuesday in Malaga. They are mainly women and minors, with an average age of 28 years. Spain has launched three other reception centers, in Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante.
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The visit also coincides with the announcement of the reopening “soon” of the Spanish Embassy in kyiv, closed shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. The representation of the EU and those of other EU countries, such as France and Italy, have already returned to the Ukrainian capital.
It also comes a day after the one made by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who assured that “sooner or later” the sanctions of the European Union will also be directed against Russian oil and gas. “I am personally convinced of this,” he said at a joint press conference with Zelensky.
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