Pedro Sanchez has arrived this Thursday at Ukraine. It will be the second visit of the President of the Government to the country, and it takes place at a particularly symbolic moment: the anniversary of the Russian invasion, which will take place on Friday. In recent days, both the US president, Joe Biden, as the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, They have gone there and have met the president, Volodimir Zelensky.
In a tweet published today, Sánchez, already from Ukrainian soil, stated: “I return to Kiev a year after the start of the war. We will be by the side of Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe.” Shortly after his arrival by train in the Ukrainian capital, the PSOE leader moved to Bucha, near kyiv and one of the symbol towns of the violence of the war.
I return to Kyiv a year after the start of the war.
We will stand by Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe.
Сьогодні повертаюся до Києва.
Ми будемо з Україною та її народом, поки до Європи не повернеться мир. pic.twitter.com/9ekUL9Lmfl
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) February 23, 2023
On April 21, Sánchez already visited kyiv, from where he announced the hitherto largest shipment of weapons and military equipment from Spain to the country attacked by Russia. He also declared “moved & rdquor; for “the horror and atrocities of Putin’s war & rdquor ;, when visiting the devastated city of Borodianka.
Back then, the war had just begun. Now, when its first anniversary is about to be completed, there is no prospect that it will end short term. The position of the Government, despite the usual departures from Unidas Podemos, continues to be that of help Ukraine at all levels: with shipments of military and humanitarian material, as well as through the reception of refugees and the training of soldiers.
The PSOE leader, who will take over the EU presidency in July, conveyed to Zelensky two weeks ago in Brussels Spain’s support for his peace plan, which among other measures requires the Russian withdrawal Ukraine, something that at the moment seems unfeasible. In any case, Sánchez also argued before his Ukrainian counterpart that the initiative needed more international support.
The President of the Government once again displayed this thesis last Friday from Slovenia, together with the Prime Minister of this country, Robert Golob, during his first tour to prepare for the Spanish presidency of the EU. “We must vindicate the need for all of us to extend support for his proposal for peace. must be found many more allies to Zelensky’s proposal. Nobody here wanted a war, except one person. Can not be equidistant between the aggressor and the aggressed. We are with the victim. We want peace, but it has to be defined around the proposals of those who have been attacked. That is why it is necessary that we all involve the international community in Zelenki’s proposal,” said Sánchez.
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Sánchez’s trip occurs one day before the anniversary of the first year of war in Ukraine, a conflict that has caused untold destruction, and has led to unacceptable violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. According to the UN, currently, almost 18 million peoplethe equivalent of 40% of the population of Ukraine, need humanitarian aidand more of 7,000 civilians Have they died because of the fighting. Of these, 480 were children. The conflict has also produced a massive displacement of people. Around 8 million people have fled to neighboring countries and 5.4 million people have become internally displaced.
The war has not stopped in recent days either. According to the Ukrainian authorities, in the last 24 hours alone there have been around 90 attacks in northeastern and eastern Ukraine, where the bloodiest battles continue to take place in the Bakhmut area. A strategic location because its fall would help Russian troops advance towards some important cities, including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.