Spain Pledges To Give Ukraine €1 Billion In Military Aid
Spain has pledged to provide Ukraine with €1 billion in military aid this year. This comes after Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, met in Madrid on Monday to sign a decade-long defence and security deal.
The precise details of the agreement have not been made public, but Spain said its assistance would “allow Ukraine to prioritise its capacities, including its air defences”.
The Guardian reported that the bilateral deal was agreed upon two days after a Russian strike in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed 18 people, and as EU leaders grow increasingly exasperated with Hungary’s efforts to block aid to Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference after the signing of the “enormously important” deal, Sánchez said:
[This deal] will allow Ukraine to boost its capabilities, including its essential air defence systems to protect its civilians, cities and infrastructure, which are still suffering indiscriminate attacks as seen this weekend in Kharkiv.
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He said Spain had already pledged to supply Patriot missiles and said it would also send “another batch of Leopard tanks and above all ammunition”.
The Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed to intercept high-flying aircraft and later modified to address the threat of tactical ballistic missiles.
The Spanish government said the agreement would also include other areas, such as intelligence, training, de-mining, reconstruction and humanitarian assistance.
Zelenskiy said he had briefed Sánchez on the situation on the frontline and was grateful to Spain for its “tangible and truly life-saving support”.
He, however, said Ukraine still urgently needed another seven US-made Patriot air defence systems to stop Russia from hitting the power grid and civilian areas.
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