Sánchez is not among the 10 signatories of the joint statement published this Tuesday with the aim of supporting the president of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenskiafter Trump has again suggested that kyiv will have to cede territory to Russia in any peace agreement.
In contrast, the statement, which is also signed by Zelensky himself, maintains that “the current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations.” “We remain committed with the principle that International borders must not be changed by force“he adds.
The text bears the signature of the leaders of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer; Germany, Friedrich Merz; France, Emmanuel Macron; Italia, Giorgia Meloni; Denmark, Mette Frederiksen; Finland, Alexander Stubb; and Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre.
The declaration is also signed by the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyenand the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa.
Sánchez was also marginalized from the joint call of several European leaders with Zelensky after he met at the White House with the president of the United States.
It was at this meeting that Trump demanded that he accept the territorial cessions in the Donbas region that he claims Vladimir Putin in exchange for ending the war and warned him that the Kremlin will “destroy” Ukraine if he does not do so, according to the Financial Times.
Von der Leyen, Macron, Merz, Meloni, Starmer, Tusk, Stubb and also the Secretary General of NATO participated in the subsequent call with Zelensky, Mark Rutte.
Defense Spending
The President of the Government was also not invited to the joint mission to Washington that most of these leaders carried out in August to convey to Trump their support for Ukraine just before he met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
None of these leaders has explained in public why Sánchez is not invited to this type of meeting. The truth is that his exclusion from this hard core has become permanent since his refusal to increase Defense spending to 5% of GDP after signing it at the NATO summit in The Hague in June.
In recent weeks, the Nordic countries have complained on several occasions about the lack of solidarity from the countries on the southern flank, without specifically citing Spain. Other member states, such as Germany or the Netherlands, denounce that southern countries are not contributing sufficiently to support Ukraine, neither financially nor militarily.
In Moncloa they admit that the ultimate cause of this criticism is the position that Sánchez assumed alone at the summit in The Hague, which has also earned him several attacks from Trump himself, with the support of Rutte.
The statement from which Sánchez has been excluded points out that “Russia’s delaying tactics have demonstrated time and again that Ukraine is the only party truly committed to peace.” “We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction”point out European leaders.
In his opinion, Ukraine “must be in the strongest possible position: before, during and after any ceasefire.”
In parallel, the international community must “intensify pressure on the Russian economy and its defense industry, until Putin is willing to achieve peace.” In this sense, the signatories recall that Brussels is preparing a loan of 140 billion to kyiv from Russian funds frozen since the outbreak of the war.
The statement is published just before the summit of heads of state and government of the 27 that is being held this Thursday in Brussels, which Zelensky himself is scheduled to attend in person.
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