The time is approaching to send Spanish troops—and from many other European countries—to Ukraine, but for that to happen a very complex peace will still have to be signed, because in no case will soldiers be sent in times of war. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Tuesday afternoon a round of contacts with the majority of political groups to inform them of progress in the Coalition of Volunteers in which Spain joins 34 other countries to help Ukraine, invaded by Russia almost four years ago and in which these plans for possible troop shipments will be explained, which according to sources close to the president in any case are not imminent because first there must be a peace with very strong guarantees from Russia that it will not return. to attack and take over more territory. Everything indicates that Zelensky will have to give up territory, and he will only be able to assume that cost if the security guarantees, that is, that he will not lose more, are very solid.
“For the first time in a long time, four years since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began, a security framework is beginning to take shape that can eventually allow the war to end and a just and lasting peace to be achieved in Ukraine, which is what we Europeans have been defending since the beginning of this aggression by Putin,” said Sánchez from Paris, after the meeting in support of Ukraine of the Volunteer Coalition that includes 35 countries, including Spain.
“Next week I will contact only the majority of groups in the Chamber to ask them how we should join from Spain and what our contribution should be, as long as this ceasefire is agreed,” he announced.
In the same intervention, Sánchez has opened up to the possibility of having Spanish troops in Ukrainian territory, provided that a peace agreement has been reached first. “Spain says yes if this ceasefire occurs and, therefore, it opens the opportunity to consolidate peace and definitively end the war on the eastern front of Ukraine to participate in these two areas: one, in that of reconstruction, with economic resources through the EU and also those that we can give bilaterally: and two, contributing to these security guarantees. The security guarantees are yet to be defined, I do state that the Government of Spain will propose that we can open the door to participation of military capabilities in Ukraine, but of course in the field of security measures that we are going to offer these 35 countries.”
Sánchez has referred to below to give more details of this possible participation. “I will logically inform when this materializes, when we have something more concrete, in which our technical teams are participating and I will tell the Congress of Deputies and the Spanish citizenry as a whole.” The Defense Law establishes that it is up to Congress to authorize, in advance, the participation of the Armed Forces in missions outside the national territory.
The socialist leader has emphasized that “at the moment when this ceasefire is agreed, a scheme of security guarantees will have to be proposed in Ukraine, where the Coalition of Volunteers will have to pitch in and actively participate.” The president has disseminated some of the agreements reached at the meeting of the Volunteer Coalition. “We are beginning to have a concrete plan on how to articulate and deploy these guarantees and how to protect the civilian population and prevent new conflicts and peace from being consolidated. We have been able to debate that plan today and confirm the will of both the United States and all European allies and beyond Europe to implement this scheme of security guarantees. In this context, Spain must be part of that effort.”
The President of the Government has stressed that “Spain has always defended Ukraine’s entry into the EU and we are going to continue helping Ukraine and the EU.” And he has assured that the EU and, beyond the EU, are ready “to launch the call prosperity package for Ukraine, which includes aid and incentives to rebuild its infrastructure and revitalize its economy.”
