Spain rejected assumptions about absence from Ukraine talks due to NATO spending
Kyiv • UNN
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares denied that the country's failure to meet NATO targets was the reason for its absence from the Ukraine talks. Albares emphasized Spain's commitment as an ally and its provision of military aid to Ukraine.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares rejected suggestions that the country's inability to meet revised NATO spending targets was the reason for its absence from this week's talks on Russia's war against Ukraine, writes UNN with reference to Bloomberg.
Details
"Spain is a very committed ally," Albares told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.
He said he had received no indication that Spain's failure to meet the NATO target was in any way related to Spain's absence from the meeting of European leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday.
The meeting, as the publication writes, "was seen as a victory for Western allies who tried to deter Trump from a quick deal at Ukraine's expense" - which "seemed more likely" after his meeting with Kremlin head Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week.
US and European officials will immediately work to provide Ukraine with robust security guarantees to help strengthen the country's armed forces, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
The goal is to prevent Russia's demands for limiting the size of the Ukrainian military as part of a future agreement to end the war, sources told the publication.
In his interview with Bloomberg TV, Albares stated that strengthening the Ukrainian army is the best security guarantee, given the "realities on the ground."
"That's what we're doing: providing military equipment to ensure that the Ukrainian army is capable of guaranteeing sovereignty and territorial integrity," he added.
"We need a ceasefire, first and foremost," he said, while cautioning that "Russia has given no indication that it is genuinely engaged in a real conversation about a just and lasting peace."
Addition
In June, Spain caused outrage among some NATO allies by demanding an exemption from the military alliance's new target of allocating 5% of GDP to defense. The government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez argued that its spending plans were sufficient to meet NATO's needs.
Trump subsequently threatened Spain with tariffs twice as high as the rest of the European Union, but did not follow through on his threats.