Spain has become the 21st NATO member state to sign a joint declaration of support for Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance. In total, 31 countries are members of NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the signing of the document at a press conference in Kyiv after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The declaration does not stipulate the exact dates of accession. Kyiv insists that at the upcoming summit in Vilnius, Ukraine will receive clear guarantees of accession to the alliance after the war with Russia is over.
Sanchez arrived in Kyiv on the first day of Spain’s presidency of the European Union, which Ukraine also seeks to join.
“I wanted the first event of the Spanish presidency of the EU Council to be in Ukraine with Volodymyr Zelensky. I will express to the Ukrainian government and parliament all European solidarity. We will continue to support the Ukrainian people until peace is restored in Europe”, Sanchez tweeted.
Also during his speech in the Verkhovna Rada, the Spanish Prime Minister announced a new aid package to Ukraine worth 55 million euros. He also spoke about future arms deliveries to Kyiv, including four Leopard tanks.
In his turn, Zelensky complained at a press conference that there was still no schedule for training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighters and expressed bewilderment that Western partners, as he put it, were delaying the start of training.
He also called the situation around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant worrisome, where, according to Ukrainian special services, Russia might be preparing a nuclear provocation.
