Maximum honors to receive the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, upon his arrival for the official visit to Spain that he undertook this Monday in Madrid. King Felipe VI received Zelenski on the tarmac at the Barajas airport in what is his first official visit to Spain and in which he signed a multi-million dollar security agreement with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

That of Felipe VI has been a unusual gesture of deference and to show the importance given to this visit, something that he also did at the time, although at the Torrejón air base, in June 2022 when the president of the United States, J.oh Biden.

The visit began with the delayed arrival of the Ukrainian president, who landed shortly before 12:00 p.m. After a warm greeting and a brief exchange of words with Felipe VI and the rest of the delegation that came to receive him, they interpreted the Ukrainian and Spanish anthem and then both of them reviewed the troops of the three armies that they had formed in front of the plane.

Along with the King, Europa Press reports, the head of his House, Camilo Villarino, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Diego Martínez Belío, and the head of the Defense Staff, Teodoro Esteban López Calderón, as well as the Spanish ambassador in Kyiv, Ricardo López Aranda, and the Ukrainian ambassador in Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev.

This has been the reception of Zelenski in Barajas by Felipe VI |

Direct to Moncloa

The delay has accelerated the entire agenda of the day, so Zelenski has rushed to the Moncloa Palace for his meeting with Sánchez in which they signed the bilateral agreement between both countries. Spain will provide aid worth 1 billion euros to Ukraine in 2024, aid that includes three areas, as Sánchez explained, “military, financial and humanitarian”, in addition to aid for reconstruction. Although he has not specified much about what type of weapons Spain will provide, nor when he will begin to receive this aid, Sanchez has detailed that there will be a new batch of Leopard tanks and ammunition for the Ukrainian Army.

Sánchez and Zelensky have praised each other: “Spain did not close its eyes,” said Zelensky, to acknowledge Spanish support from the beginning. For his part, the president has indicated that the important thing is to “help Ukraine as quickly as possible to increase its defense”, and has assured that “Spain is and will be with Ukraine”: “We will be there as long as it takes to organize its security and integrity,” he concluded.

After that, and already accumulating delay, Felipe VI welcomed the Ukrainian president at the Royal Palace where, after a meeting, a lunch was offered in his honor. About thirty guests attended this meal, including Sánchez, the popular leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as well as other senior officials, in addition to Queen Letizia.

Zelensky completes his visit, initially scheduled for May 17, but had to be postponed due to the Russian offensive on Kharkiv, with a visit to the Congress of Deputies, where he will meet with its president, Francina Armengol, and with the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán.

The Ukrainian president was in Granada last Octoberbut it was on the occasion of the summit of the European Political Community, although he then took the opportunity to also meet the king before returning to his country.