Spain has already sent more military equipment to Ukraine. The largest made so far. This Thursday a ship gave birth from a Spanish port, the Navy ship ‘Ysabel’heading to Poland. The ship carries 200 tons of ammunition and other material and 30 trucks and 10 smaller vehicles loaded with military equipment.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, made this announcement after meeting in kyiv with the Ukrainian President, Volodímir Zelenski. In a subsequent appearance, which he shared with his Danish counterpart, the Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen, with whom he had traveled by train from Poland, the Socialist leader specified that this new military aid is “the largest ever” by Spain, and that it is more double that received so far by kyiv.
The president stressed that Spain has already sent 11 planes with 170 tons of offensive and other material to Ukraine, has contributed 120 million euros to the European peace aid fund, and is “ensuring” compliance with European sanctions against Russia and provided protection to 66,000 refugees (137,000 have already arrived). The Spanish have shown their “solidarity” with the Ukrainian people, but “the needs are enormous”, and for this reason the Government will continue to provide political support, humanitarian, financial and military assistance to kyiv. And Ukraine, as Zelensky insisted during the press conference, needs weapons. Lethal equipment that Spain will deliver to the invaded country, therefore, regardless of the reluctance of Podemos.
But the fight against impunity is also a “priority” for Spain, especially, he defended, after visiting the massacred city of Borodyanka, a symbol of the “atrocities” committed by Russia and that cannot go unpunished. For this reason, Spain, he advanced, is going to respond to the request for support from the International Criminal Court to “investigate and prosecute those responsible for having committed war crimes.” Thus, the Government will make available to the ICC a multidisciplinary team of experts, who are part of at least eight agencies of the Ministry of the Interior, together with a group of 39 forensic experts and other technicians.
Thirdly, the Executive undertakes to protect the “most vulnerable”, so that the humanitarian aid provided by Spain, part of it managed by Unicef, will give priority to minors and women. The fourth point of support for Ukraine is political, which is why the Spanish Embassy in kyiv will be reopened. “President Zelensky, rest assured that Spain is determined to support Ukraine in everything we can, bilaterally and within the EU framework,” said Sánchez.
The president thanked the Ukrainian president for his “European vocation”, the country’s heroic “resistance” against the Russian autocrat. “You are not alone, Europe is with you and we are not going to abandon you. Europe is going to be united with Ukraine and against this unjust war of Putin. We want peace for Ukraine and for Putin to be responsible for these crimes.”
Sánchez visited with Frederiksen, before his meeting with Zelensky, the city of Borodyanka, a city subjected to Russian aggression and already liberated. The socialist leader declared himself “moved and moved” upon verifying the devastation of the town and hearing the testimonies of the military and neighbors, their story that they could not rescue his compatriots and that they died. “We are not only talking about crimes against humanity, war crimes, it will have to be the ICC that certifies if there has been a case of genocide here, but I have logically opened the door to it,” he said.
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The journalists asked the chief executive about the possible entry of kyiv into the EU, an admission process that began after the Russian aggression began and that Brussels has promised to speed up. “Spain is not the founder of the old economic EU. We entered the EU in the 1980s. For a country like Spain, this means that we are always in favor of enlarging the EU. It is our philosophy,” he said. But access to the community club, he warned, requires a process of “adaptation and transformation”, and Spain “will always support Ukraine on this path”. “And I am sure that the result of this process will be the one I just mentioned to you,” that is, accession, he concluded.
Zelensky has reiterated that a new round of sanctions against Russia that does not include an embargo on its oil and gas will not be sufficiently powerful and effective. Sánchez, asked by the media, argued that in the chapter on punishing Moscow “unity is important”, because that is its greatest “asset” against the Kremlin, since it sends a message of “strength” and cohesion of the community block. The problem is that partners such as Germany or Hungary are not willing to move in that direction for now due to their dependence on Russian gas.