Spain pledges more than €800 million in new aid to Ukraine

Spain has pledged €817 million ($947.5 million) in new aid to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s ongoing invasion, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Tuesday at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Madrid.

Sánchez told a joint press conference that €615 million of the total aid would be channelled into a “military support package,” which would be made available next month for the procurement of new equipment.

The funds include €100 million with which Spain intends to participate in the so-called PURL initiative to provide Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.

The €615 million forms part of an existing bilateral security agreement under which Spain provides €1 billion in annual military aid.

Spain aims to contribute to the reconstruction of the country

Spain will also provide €202 million euros “to drive forward the reconstruction of Ukraine,” Sánchez said. The project will focus primarily on the energy, water and transport sectors.

Spanish companies should be able to participate in the project.

Several agreements were signed during the visit, including one to jointly combat Russian propaganda, according to the Spanish government.

Sánchez reaffirmed his “complete and decisive” support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and pledged that this assistance would continue until a just and lasting peace was achieved and the country could join the EU.

Zelensky expressed his gratitude for the support and emphasised that the key to ending the war lay in “unity and international cooperation.”

Zelensky, who was on his third visit to Spain, visited the Spanish parliament in Madrid ealier and met Parliament Speaker Francina Armengol and Senate President Pedro Rollán.

Zelensky visits parliament and the king

After visiting the Congreso de los Diputados, the lower house of parliament, and meeting defence industry representatives, Zelensky was also received by King Felipe VI.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Spanish radio that Spain’s commitment to Ukraine is “long-term,” and that Madrid supports the sovereignty, territorial integrity and defence of the Ukrainian people “as long as this war of aggression lasts.”

Ahead of the visit, Zelensky wrote on X that he hoped “another strong country will increase its support – helping us protect lives and bring the end of the war closer.”

On Monday, the Ukrainian president and French President Emmanuel Macron signed a memorandum of understanding in Paris that provides for Ukraine to purchase billions of euros worth of military equipment from France, including dozens of Rafale fighter jets, air defence systems, guided bombs and drones.

Hope for revived peace process?

Zelensky wrote on X that his visit to Spain would be followed by talks in Turkey on Wednesday.

Talks in Ankara will also focus on ways to end the war in Ukraine and possibilities for lasting peace, according to the communications director of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “We are preparing to revive the negotiations and have worked out solutions that we will propose to our partners,” Zelensky wrote on the X social network.

However, he did not say whether he was referring to direct Ukrainian-Russian talks. Russia is not involved in the talks in Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow.

In the more than three and a half years of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Turkey has repeatedly acted as a mediator between Moscow and Kiev or hosted talks.