Wednesday, 19 November 2025, 10:37
Spain will maintain its economic and military support for Ukraine “until the end”. PM Pedro Sánchez made this promise during President Zelensky’s third visit to Spain since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which was held on Tuesday, 18 November. The commitment reached between the two leaders in Moncloa includes a package of 615 million in military aid to Ukraine (part of the first batch of the one billion that the government had already promised to Kyiv in 2024), as well as a further 202 million in funding for reconstruction.
At a joint press conference, Zelensky thanked the Spanish nation, which he described as comprising “people of light in a dark time”, for the “solidarity”, which is crucial at a time when Russia has increased air attacks on the civilian population and when a new winter is approaching. An urgent action is to not only obtain anti-aircraft resources and drones, but to also improve basic infrastructure such as heating in the affected areas and energy and water supply in the face of the arrival of the cold weather.
In December, Spain will allocate 300 million euros to the shipment of defence equipment in the framework of the bilateral security agreement. In addition, another 100 million will be transferred to Nato’s Purl programme to “finance the urgent acquisition of defence systems needed by the Ukrainian armed forces”.
The funds are earmarked to purchase military equipment from the US defence industry, which Zelensky has not been able access so easily since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January. “Ukraine needs these defence systems urgently and only the US can provide them,” Sánchez said. Lastly, a further 215 million euros will be mobilized through the Safe instrument created by the European Commission.
In addition, Spain will implement a joint project with the UN to rebuild the centralised heating system in the Ukrainian town of Sumy, the infrastructure of which has been seriously damaged by the war. This will benefit more than 28,000 people at a cost of approximately two million euros.
Before the meeting, Sánchez and Zelensky visited the Reina Sofía museum with a special stop in front of Picasso’s Guernica, which the Ukrainian leader had previously described as a “universal symbol of the barbarity of wars”. “Picasso only authorised the return of Guernica to Spain when democracy returned. I am convinced that sooner rather than later Ukraine will share the privilege of peace. Until then, Spaniards will be with Ukraine,” Sánchez said.
Meeting with the king
Zelensky’s agenda in Spain was packed with business and institutional meetings. Among them was a meeting with King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela palace. There, the monarch conveyed Spain’s support in the face of Russia’s aggression and Ukraine’s aspirations to join the EU. Afterwards, the king hosted a lunch in Zelensky’s honour.
One of the objectives of Zelenksy’s European tour was to reduce Ukraine’s dependence on the US. On Monday, he signed an agreement in Paris to acquire 100 Rafale fighters. On the following day, he visited tech and consultancy company Indra’s facilities in Madrid, where he met with representatives of 13 Spanish defence companies who presented him with several defence systems. As a result of this meeting, Spanish companies Escribano Mechanical & Engineering and Tecnove signed an agreement with the Ukrainian company Practika to jointly manufacture different types of armoured vehicles.
Early in the morning, the Ukrainian president visited Congreso, where he met with the presidents of the lower and the upper houses, who showed him around the palace. During the visit, the Ukrainian president was particularly struck by the bullet marks of the failed coup d’état of 23 February 1981, which can still be seen on the ceiling, preserved to dissuade a similar attack from happening in Spain again.