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Weapons, weapons and more weapons. These are the requests that Ukraine has insistently made to the countries that are supporting it against the Russian invasion, but there is one ally in particular that will be disappointing the Ukrainians: Spain. On the Ukrainian side, there are even those who comment that “even Portugal” has been “much more generous” in sending weapons to the country at war.
The story is told by El Mundo, which anonymously cites several Ukrainian military sources and according to which the unrest in Volodymyr Zelensky’s camp is evident. Faced with the shipment of weapons and materials from so many other countries – including the 315 tons of military material sent by Portugal – there will be a single ally that will be “infuriating” and irritating Ukrainian politicians and soldiers, says the newspaper.
“Are you going to be fooled by Spain again?” asked one of the participants in the Telegram channel of Oleksiy Arestovich, Zelensky’s military adviser, who has hundreds of thousands of followers. Another military expert, also quoted by El Mundo, makes the comparison with Portugal: “Even Portugal, a smaller country, was much more generous” – with Spain there is always some “problem” that ends up preventing the shipment of military material. Among the anonymous reactions of Ukrainian government sources are the same sentiments: “surprise” and “disappointment”.
In April, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, was in kyiv and visited Zelensky. Together with the Ukrainian president, he then promised “the largest arms shipment” to the country to date, guaranteeing that a total of 40 vehicles (30 trucks and 10 light vehicles) would be on their way to Poland with 200 tons of material.
Problem: After all, the trucks got to the border, put down their guns, and turned around; the Ukrainians counted on maintaining their own vehicles. In June it was suggested to send 40 Leopard 2 A4 tanks that are part of the Spanish reserve and that would be in good condition, but would need authorization from Germany, since the vehicles would be of German origin, but Germany confirmed that they had not received any requirements. official of Spain for this purpose.
However, the offer went from 40 to 10 tanks and ended up not materializing, since the Spanish Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, made public that the promised vehicles were, after all, in an “absolutely regrettable” state and would be a risk to anyone who uses them.
The discomfort had already been made public and assumed at that time, when the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Sergey Pohoreltsev, met with the minister and argued, at the end of the meeting, that “if someone wants to help, they always search and find”. a way to help.” do it”.
At that time, in early August, the diplomat hoped that Spain would send the promised material “in a short time” and recalled that this winter will be difficult for the country, while the minister replied that the country will do everything “within its possibilities.” All of this at a time when the sending of material is a sensitive issue within the Spanish government itself, since the minority party called Unidas Podemos opposes these measures and puts pressure on the PSOE in this regard.
Portugal has already sent 315 tons of material to Ukraine
In the case of Portugal, according to information provided by the Defense Minister, Helena Carreiras, in Parliament at the end of July, 315 tons of military material have already been sent (protective equipment, ammunition, weapons, medical and health material, drones ). sent to Ukraine, albeit with some delays justified by the need to organize the transport “within the framework of international coordination” and without additional costs for the Portuguese taxpayers. At that time, the minister said that she had already received a thank you from the Ukrainian executive for the help.
Source: Observadora
