The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyhas canceled the visit he was going to make to Madrid next Friday, according to sources from the King’s House, after he had announced the meeting he was going to have with Felipe VI and a subsequent lunch at the Royal Palace.

The Zarzuela Palace has not explained the reasons for the suspension of the visit, which was going to be Zelensky’s first bilateral visit to Spain and in which he was scheduled to meet with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to sign a security agreement. Diplomatic sources have pointed out that the cancellation of the trip of the president of Ukraine, which was going to include Portugal, is due to the complex situation that his country is going through in the face of the Russian offensive after more than two years of war.

The Government did not officially announce the visitalthough on Monday sources from the Executive had acknowledged to EFE the preparations for it and that during its course it was planned to sign the bilateral agreement on security.

La Zarzuela did report at around 2:00 p.m. this Tuesday about the events that the Ukrainian president was going to have with Felipe VI, a meeting followed by a lunch at the Royal Palace, during his official visit to Spain. However, two hours later, at a press conference at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid, its head, José Manuel Albares, avoided confirming Zelensky’s visit. “On any movement of President Zelensky anywhere in the world, for security reasons, first of all, I am not going to make any comments, neither confirm, nor deny, nor add,” he said.

Albares indicated that on Monday he had contacted his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kuleba, by telephone, but insisted that “for many reasons, including security,” he was not going to comment on Zelensky’s possible trip. At that press conference, his Portuguese counterpart, Paulo Rangel, appeared alongside Albares, who shared that it was not prudent to give details about a possible visit by Zelensky to Lisbon for security reasons. “Many times,” he explained, “these visits are decided at the last minute and, therefore, it is not worth speculating.”

Several Portuguese media reported early tonight that the visit to this country and Spain was cancelled, and sources from the Spanish Government insisted that the Executive at no time officially considered it done. It was midnight when Zarzuela has reported the annulment of the events with Zelenski which he had previously announced.

Ukraine is experiencing a Russian offensive on the new front opened on Friday in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, and Zelensky received the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Kyiv this Tuesday. Blinken traveled by surprise to reaffirm Washington’s support for this Russian offensive, acknowledged that Ukraine is going through “difficult times” and confirmed that the US military aid approved last month has already begun to reach the front.

Sánchez has also been reiterating the Spain’s support for Ukraine, as he confirmed to Zelenski in the telephone conversation they had on May 7 and in which he guaranteed that support for as long as necessary. The President of the Government reported that in that conversation they talked about the progress of the security agreement between Spain and Ukraine that was scheduled to be signed this Friday in Madrid. On the occasion of that talk, the President of the Government also announced that he will be present next month in Switzerland at the Peace Conference to be held on Ukraine.