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Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrives in Kyiv for surprise visit to mark invasion anniversary

23 February 2023 12:23 (UTC +04:00)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for a surprise visit marking the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, APA reports citing CNN.

“I return to Kyiv a year after the start of the war. We will stand by Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe,” Sánchez wrote on Twitter, alongside a video of himself stepping off a train and greeting Ukrainian officials.

The trip — which was not listed on the Spanish leader's official agenda for Thursday —follows a highly secretive visit by Joe Biden to the Ukrainian capital on Monday, in which the US President announced a half-billion dollars in new assistance for Kyiv.

Spain is among a number of NATO allies that have agreed to send modern tanks to Ukraine and has trained 800 Ukrainian troops in the Iberian country since the start of war, Madrid's defense minister said Wednesday.