Sánchez announces €1 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2026: "We haven't forgotten you"

MadridThe war in the Middle East has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, overshadowing the conflict in Ukraine. Against this international backdrop, Pedro Sánchez received Volodymyr Zelensky at the Moncloa Palace on Wednesday and announced €1 billion in bilateral military aid in 2026, part of which will be channeled through the European SAFE loan mechanism. "Spain will not stop looking towards Ukraine. We have not forgotten your suffering. We will continue to stand by your side as a faithful, loyal, and reliable ally," the Spanish president stated. Sánchez emphasized that the Ukrainian president's visit to Spain, his fourth since the start of the war with Russia, has "a very special significance" given that the conflict in Iran "is currently monopolizing everyone's attention." "We will maintain our support [for Ukraine] with the same intensity as from day one," he insisted.

Beyond this 1 billion euros, which brings Spain's support for Ukraine since the start of the war to 4 billion, the Socialist leader explained that he has committed to Zelensky to promote joint "co-production and co-manufacturing" with Ukrainian companies in the defense industry. According to Sánchez, this collaboration will be primarily linked to the development of drones and radar systems. This was one of the objectives of the signing, just before the two leaders appeared together, of several cooperation agreements. Only four months ago, the Ukrainian president visited Spain, and after a meeting also at the Moncloa Palace, the Spanish president announced 615 million euros in military aid to Ukraine

Zelensky's fourth visit to Spain comes as part of a European tour by the Ukrainian president that has included Romania, France, and the United Kingdom, and will conclude with his participation in the European Council, which the Ukrainian president is attending with the aim of unblocking the loan of 90 billionwith the frozen Russian funds held by the European bloc as collateral. Zelensky has used this option when US-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are stalled due to the conflict in Iran and amid tensions between Donald Trump and his European partners. Within the framework of the international alliance to help Ukraine, Sánchez opened the door a couple of months ago to send Spanish troops to Ukraine on a peacekeeping missionA decision that has been put on hold because peace is taking longer to arrive than projected at the beginning of the year.

Zelensky calls for an end to the Iran-Contra warThe Spanish government emphasizes that today, "ensuring Ukraine's energy self-sufficiency is a priority, especially after Russian bombings reduced the country's electrical capacity by 70%." This is also in light of the "context of great global uncertainty" in which "the war with Iran is allowing Russia to profit from rising prices in the hydrocarbon market." Sánchez highlighted that at the beginning of this year, Spain donated "six powerful generators that guarantee the supply to more than 14,000 people" in Ukraine. Zelensky thanked Spain for this support without entering into the controversy surrounding the clash between Sánchez and Trump over Iran, although he did call for "everyone to work towards ending" the conflict in the Middle East. The Ukrainian president has warned that Russia is "very interested" in the continuation of the war with Iran because in its first ten days alone it has earned "10 billion dollars" from the increase in oil prices, which it "invests in weaponry" to attack Ukraine.