Pedro Sánchez warns Putin that his acts will not go unpunished and warns of the economic impact of the war

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  • The president appears and demands that the Russian leader end hostilities and revoke the independence of the annexed Ukrainian territories

“resounding condemnation” from Executive to “unacceptable” Russia’s attack on Ukraine and also warning that the “flagrant violations” of international legality undertaken by Vladimir Putin will not go “unpunished”. Pedro Sánchez sent that forceful message to Moscow, also demanding that it put an immediate end to hostilities and revoke the independence of the territories that it has annexed and comply with its commitments Of course, he also recognized that the war in Eastern Europe will also have economic consequences, especially in the energy markets, which the allies will try to mitigate.

The President of the Government appeared this Thursday after 3:00 p.m. in Moncloa after a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by King Felipe VI in Zarzuela. The head of the Executive, during his institutional statement of just under ten minutes (and without questions), gave voice to the “strong” condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an “unjustified” aggression of “unprecedented” gravity . Sánchez had already canceled the XXVI Conference of Presidents that was going to be held on February 25 on the Canary Island of La Palma first thing in the morning. What he does maintain is his attendance at the Extraordinary European Council convened at 8:00 p.m. in Brussels.

Sánchez took pains to explain why this conflict is transcendental, why it is “something that changes the history of Europe”, as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had previously stated. The facts are “very serious” and at the same time “very simple”: a “nuclear power“, Russia, has “violated the international legality” and has invaded a neighboring country, Ukraine, while threatening “retaliation” to any other nation that helps Kiev. “It is from every point of view a flagrant violation of international law, national sovereignty and the integrity territory of Ukraine. And it is something more, it is a frontal attack on the principles and values, above all of them, peace, which have provided Europe with years of stability and prosperity”.

The head of the Executive stressed that this crisis affects some “balances” that transcend the two affected countries and therefore will have “certain” consequences “of powerful“That is why Spain shares the call of the international community to Putin to stop hostilities. Spain, he argued, shares with the European Union interests and values ​​that the Constitution also includes and that the population “widely” shares: peace, respect for international legality, solidarity and humanitarian cooperation with the affected peoples. Values ​​that will “inspire” the Government in this crisis. A not gratuitous underlined, since the partners of United We Can have emphasized from the beginning the need to delve into the diplomatic channel and the rejection of all military action. Sánchez at no time indicated that the Executive was going to send troops. The NATO allies will not do so either unless one of their member countries is attacked.

“Solidarity” with the population

What will be the contribution of Spain? Sánchez did not specify much, largely because the response will be put together jointly with the EU and the Alliance. Spain “will defend the international legalitywill go out of its way to restore peace and show solidarity” with the affected populations. To “guarantee” this return to peace and the brake on aggression, the EU and its allies have approved a first package of sanctions to “prevent ” to continue fighting that has already cost “too many lives”. They also want to “demonstrate” to Putin that the “violations of international law and against the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine “they cannot and must not go unpunished“.

To work for “international legality,” he assured that the most “effective” way is to impose sanctions. The European Council this Thursday will define the EU’s response to this “flagrant violation of international law”. Sánchez maintained that his government has been in constant contact, for many weeks, with his partners to provide a “coordinated and unified European” response to this crisis. And to show the “solidarity“towards Kiev, it will be searched”help” to the Ukrainian population with more financial aid and with “important investments” to protect their well-being and with medical supplies. Of all these actions, he specified, he has already informed the still leader of the PP, Pablo Casado, and will report on it to the Congress next March 2.

But Sánchez warned that other humanitarian consequences, the armed conflict and the sanctions that are going to be imposed will have “economic impact” in Spain and the EU, especially in the energy markets, just at a time of rebound after the covid tunnel exited. The Government, in coordination with the EU, has been preparing for some time the reaction to the risk posed by military aggression “We will take as many measures as are necessary to mitigate the economic and energy impact of this crisis on Spanish society, on its companies, on households, on industry, and on economic recovery,” he promised. a “new opportunity”, as it had with the covid-19 pandemic, to “demonstrate unity, solidarity and integrationdedicating all the necessary means and making the appropriate decisions” to face this new crisis and its effects on the economy.

Will not yield to Putin

Sánchez defended that the position of his Executive has been “very clear” throughout this time, in favor of dialogue and speeding up diplomatic channels, and against any “unjust and unjustified” aggression by Moscow. Spain has supported the adoption of massive sanctions against the Kremlin. In the eyes of the Executive, now it is key to maintain the “Unit” of all those who believe in a world based on “rules, on certainty, on peace, on respect for borders and national sovereignty, and on the freedom of peoples to decide their future”. That “unity” commands a message “clear, sharp and crisp“that the western front will not crumple before Putin.

Spain “longs” to maintain a relationship of “friendship” with all countries, he proclaimed, and also with Russia, but precisely because of this “affection” for its nationals who live in our country, Sánchez issued a clear warning to Putin: that end hostilities “immediately”revoke the independence of the annexed territories (now the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and before Crimea), fulfill its commitments as a signatory of the Minsk agreements, abide by international law and return to discussions within the format of Normandy (France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia) and the trilateral contact group (Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE).

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Therefore, he concluded, there are only two paths. One, that of peace and international legality. And two, the one Moscow has opted for, which is that of the “illegitimate” force that leads to the “world mess” and the “unsafety“. Spain and the EU as a whole are on the first path, “hard but simple”

At the previous meeting of the National Security Council in Zarzuela, which lasted more than two hours, the president attended accompanied by the first and second vice presidents, Nadia Calviño and Yolanda Díaz, and the foreign ministers, José Manuel Albares; Defense, Margarita Robles, and Transport, Raquel Sánchez, in addition to the Chief of the Defense Staff (Jemad), Admiral Teodoro López Calderón; the director of Sánchez’s Cabinet, Óscar López; the Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, Ángeles Moreno Bau; Communication, Francesc Vallès; Security, Rafael Pérez, and Trade, Xiana Méndez; the director of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), Peace Stephen and the director of the Moncloa Department of National Security, General Miguel Angel Ballesteros. She also participated telematically and “over a secure line of communication“, from La Palma, where the head of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, had already traveled.



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