The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, will travel to Ukraine on Saturday to begin the semi-annual presidency of the European Council in that country at war with Russia, official sources reported Thursday.
The announcement was made by the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, in a videoconference with the heads of the European Union (EU) meeting in Brussels, a Council spokesman said.
The information was confirmed shortly after by a circular from the Spanish presidency.
That note indicates that Sánchez “has wanted the first act of the Spanish presidency to be to travel to kyiv to make visible with his presence the seamless support for Ukraine” by the EU.
During his visit, Sánchez “will meet with President Zelenski and will also deliver a speech before the Ukrainian Parliament,” he adds.
Spain will assume the presidency of the European Council for six months on July 1, made up of the 27 heads of state or government of the European Union (EU).
Ukraine, which has been facing a Russian invasion since February 2022, aims to speed up procedures to become a member of the EU.
During the meeting with the bloc’s leaders, Zelensky noted that Sánchez’s trip to Kiev “says a lot about the importance of the next six months for our Europe and Ukraine’s membership in the EU.”