Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Spain for talks with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez with the pair due to sign a deal increasing Spanish military aid to Kyiv.
As he touched down at Madrid’s Barajas airport, Mr Zelensky was met on the tarmac by King Felipe VI and then headed straight into the Spanish capital to meet Mr Sanchez where the two leaders were to sign a security agreement.
The visit comes as Ukraine battles a Russian ground offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region which began on 10 May in Moscow’s biggest territorial advance in 18 months.
With the Russian assault now in its third year, Ukraine has been pleading for more weapons for its outgunned and outnumbered troops, notably seeking help to address its lack of air defence systems.
After their meeting, the two leaders were expected to hold a news conference, Mr Sanchez’s office said.
Mr Zelensky was then expected at the Royal Palace for talks followed by “a lunch in his honour” hosted by King Felipe and Queen Letizia, a palace statement said.
The Ukrainian leader had been due to visit on 17 May, but postponed his trip after Russian troops began a major assault on the Kharkiv region.
According to El Pais newspaper, the deal would include €1.1 billion worth of military aid and include new Patriot missiles and Leopard tanks.
Mr Zelensky has already signed bilateral security agreements with several countries including France, Germany and the UK.
So far, Spain has only provided limited military aid to Ukraine.
According to the Kiel Institute – which tracks weapons pledged and delivered to Ukraine since the Russian invasion – Spain has so far committed €330 million in military aid, making it a small contributor on a European level.
By comparison, Germany, France and Italy have committed €18.61bn, €5.65bn and €1.0bn respectively.
In April, Spain pledged to send an unspecified number of Patriot air defence missile systems to Ukraine. It has also sent ten Leopard tanks.
Although the Ukrainian leader was in southern Spain for an EU summit in October, it was his first official visit to Spain since taking power in 2019.
Last week, Mr Sanchez told parliament the two nations were also preparing to sign a bilateral cooperation agreement.
“As soon as the situation on the front allows, we will sign an agreement with Ukraine that will increase economic, social and institutional cooperation between our countries,” he said.
In Ukraine, prosecutors said three people were killed during Russian shelling in three different towns in Donetsk region, the focal point of the Russian military’s slow drive along the 1,000km front.
Prosecutors in Donetsk region, which Russia has annexed though it does not control all of its territory, said civilians had died in Siversk in the north of the region and further south in Krasnohorivka and Chasiv Yar.
Russia’s military has advanced towards Chasiv Yar, the gateway to other cities in Donetsk region.
Prosecutors in Kharkiv region said a civilian also died near the town of Chuhuyev, southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, where at least 14 people were killed in an attack on a hardware shop on Saturday.
Separately, one person was killed and three others were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a petrol station in Russia’s Oryol region near the Ukrainian border, government officials said.
Governor of Oryol Andrei Klychkov said the facade of an administrative building was damaged when a drone “fell” in the town of Livny.
Another drone attack was launched after the arrival of emergency services on the scene, he said.
“According to initial information, the driver of a fire engine was unfortunately killed,” Mr Klychkov said, adding that three other emergency service employees were injured.
The Russian defence ministry said it had neutralised a dozen Ukrainian drones overnight, including six over the Oryol region, which lies around 170km from the border with Ukraine.
Ukraine has upped its attacks on Russian border regions in recent months, particularly on energy sites.
