The minister stresses that Russia is a “threat” that cannot be “minimized” and that its demands are “unacceptable” to the West
Russia is a “threat” to Europe and to the world. His demands on the West to “isolate Ukraine” are “unacceptable”, and now the answer will depend on the steps Moscow takes. And, in the face of this eventuality, the Government already anticipates that it will act “firmly” in defense of “international legality.” He has not yet specified how, because he wants to arrange all action with the European and NATO partners, and with the US, but also because he considers that “uncertainty” is a strategy of “dissuasion” against Vladimir Putin and because the accent, in this phase, is focused on “dialogue” and diplomacy.
Those were the lanes on which the urgent appearance, this Tuesday and in Congress, of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, took place. The minister combined two objectives: to be “very clear” about the “serious” situation that Europe is going through and the risk to its security and that Spain cannot “disregard” its commitments to its allies and the Union, and to demand the lower house “unity”. “Unity in Spain” among the political parties, just as “unity” has been achieved in Europe and in the transatlantic relationship with the United States. “If we have achieved unity at 27 in Europe and in NATO, there should be no difficulties in achieving unity,” he said before listening to the groups, alleging that this is a crisis that “directly affects the Spanish” and that compromises “European security, which is indivisible”.
The government’s position, the minister explained, is based on the four Ds: “Diplomacy, de-escalation, relaxation and deterrence.” It acts “as the Spaniards want”: dialogue “and peaceful resolution of conflicts”, European and transatlantic solidarity, respect for international law and respect for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
The deployment of more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine “is not justified for defensive reasons”, while his demands, which he classifies as “indispensable” to reach an agreement, seek nothing more than to “isolate” Kiev from the West and “block the enlargement of NATO” and recover its old Soviet “sphere of influence”, return to the Cold War. Moscow demands that it be given guarantees that Ukraine does not join the Alliance and the withdrawal of all the troops and troops of the organization present in the countries that joined after 1997. “All this is unacceptable, it violates international law and it is a threat to peace,” said Albares.
These two conditions are “contrary to international law”, because it would amount to accepting the “limitation of the sovereignty of States” – that is to say, that Kiev is very free to decide whether or not to join NATO – and recovering a concept “of the past” and that does not want to be repeated: the “spheres of influence”. In addition, “it is not negotiated under threat”, since it is prohibited by the United Nations charter. In that sense, the presence of Russian troops on the border is “difficult to interpret” as something other than a “means of pressure on Ukraine.”
Albares stressed that both NATO allies and EU member states are “united”. “United in dialogue,” he maintained, because that is the “path to resolution,” and because they want the situation “to be normalized through dialogue.” “We don’t want to contribute to military escalation or give others excuses to increase their aggressiveness,” he said. For this reason, he asked not to take the military escalation for granted, since it is to be “avoided” and “if it occurs, it would be the result of a decision” that neither Europe nor the NATO allies will take.
And although dialogue is the “way” out, the tension on the ground cannot be denied. Albares, at that point, recalled that dialogue must be accompanied by “dissuasion.” That is, to let Moscow know that “a certain behavior will have a massive cost”, that it has incentives to “refrain from its action”. The minister stressed that the EU and NATO are therefore also “united in deterrence”, and warned that any military intervention would have “massive economic consequences”. He did not go into what the sanctions would be, precisely because “uncertainty” is also a dissuasive mechanism, but he did guarantee the deputies that a “massive, forceful and very credible” package of measures has been agreed upon. The “next steps depend on Moscow”, because it is not a situation that the allies have “searched for”, but one that they must “deal with”.
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The good to be preserved is the “peace, stability and prosperity” of Europe and Spain, argued Albares, cannot turn its head: what is more, “it always comes when needed” due to its commitment to the security of the continent. This explains the military deployment in the region, which according to the minister is not exceptional, but remains outside the current parliamentary authorization, which involves the participation of Spanish troops in NATO operations, in member countries of the Alliance and in international waters. He stressed that Spain and the Government “aspire to have the best possible relations” with Moscow, and he conveyed this to the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Stockholm in December, but “will always act firmly in defense of international legality, respect for the sovereignty of States and in close coordination with its allies”.
The minister pointed out that an evacuation operation at a national or European level is not planned “for now”. He asserted that the ministry and the embassy in Kiev are in contact with the 534 Spaniards who live in the country, most of them (240) in Kiev, although there are 54 in sensitive border regions and 11 of them in territories not controlled by Ukraine.