By Jill McLaughlin
Spain offered Ukraine a $946 million aid package to help with the country’s reconstruction and ongoing defense efforts against Russia, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Sánchez as he continues to visit European capitals to gather support for the country’s war effort.
On Monday, Zelenskyy signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes, drones, and ground-to-air systems from France.
The president and prime minister spoke at a news conference in Madrid.
“First, for the Ukrainian army to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine from the invader, secondly to protect the civilian population, and finally to give an impulse to reconstruction,” Sánchez said about the package.
Sánchez also reiterated Spain’s support for using frozen Russian assets in Europe for reconstruction.
The leaders also discussed challenges in the energy sector following a series of Russian strikes, Zelenskyy explained in an X post.
The Ukrainian leader also expressed his appreciation for Spain’s support.
“This is substantial and sets a strong example for other European states,” Zelenskyy wrote in the post.
During his Spain trip, Zelenskyy visited the headquarters of radar and anti-drone specialist Indra, which the country partly owns.
Spain expects to roll the aid package out for Ukraine over the next month, Sánchez said.
Nearly $116 million of Spain’s contribution to Ukraine is allocated to purchase missiles from the United States through NATO’s Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), according to Sánchez. Zelenskyy said the country is mainly focused on buying Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles from the United States through the program.
“We are trying to find money, especially for Patriot systems—for missiles,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
Spain’s aid package will add to Ukraine’s growing war chest collected during Zelenskyy’s European tour.
On Nov. 13, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden announced they would fund a joint $500 million package of military equipment and munitions for Ukraine from the United States under the NATO program.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed last week’s announcement.
“Our Nordic and Baltic Allies are stepping up to fund a further package of critical military equipment for Ukraine,” Rutte said in a statement. “This equipment is extremely important as Ukraine enters the winter months, and deliveries through PURL are flowing into Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy plans to visit Turkey on Wednesday in a bid to breathe fresh life into peace talks with Russia. Ukraine is hoping to restart negotiations and has developed solutions to propose to its partners, Zelenskyy said. His country is also working to restore prisoner-of-war exchanges with Russia, he said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will reach its third anniversary in February.
