The Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, travels to Kiev on Tuesday to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart and “convey the solidarity of Spain”, as he stated. “Dialogue is being the way forward and I am not even considering war as a hypothesis,” he added.
Diplomatic sources say that the minister is traveling to “analyze the situation on the ground” and that same night he will travel to Lyon, France, in the framework of the ministerial meeting on Health, where he will also meet his counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian , and will address the situation in Ukraine. Finally, Albares will be seen this week in Brussels with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, and the High Representative of the EU, Josep Borrell.
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Macron has established himself these days as a European interlocutor with Russia, insisting on the need for European strategic independence from the US. Since the crisis with Ukraine broke out, Macron has spoken with Putin by phone at least four times and met with him in Moscow on Monday. Even so, diplomatic sources in Spain believe that “Macron has not distanced himself” from “unity” with the rest of the EU and NATO partners.
After the meeting between Macron and Putin, French sources said that the Russian president had promised not to carry out new “military initiatives” near Ukraine and to withdraw thousands of soldiers deployed in Belarus after the joint maneuvers already scheduled. However, the Russian government spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has assured that these leaks “are not correct”.
A few days ago, the Russian Foreign Minister sent a letter to several European partners, the US and Canada asking them for an “individualized” response on their position regarding the European security architecture in relation to possible expansions of NATO to the east. However, diplomatic sources assure that Spain is acting “in a coordinated and united manner” with its partners in relation to its response and insist that they do not share Russia’s vision. “Each state can freely decide the security scheme to which it accepts. If there are doubts on the part of Russia, we are willing to dialogue and clarify, but dialogue is not negotiating,” the same sources point out.
“Russia would prefer to deal bilaterally with us, but we are united. Probably that unity is the one that was not counted on,” say Foreign sources, adding that “Spain is with Ukraine, which is the one whose integrity and borders are threatened.”
Russia alleges that the concept of security on the continent “is based on two pillars”, according to various documents signed by both parties: “The right of each State to freely choose its military alliances and the obligation of each State not to strengthen its security expense of others,” declared the Russian ambassador to Spain, Yuri Korchagin. “The second condition is deliberately muted by the US and EU partners and Russia wants an explanation for this selective approach to its obligations.”
The ambassador cites three “key” OSCE documents: the Charter on European Security (Istanbul Document, 1999), the Astana Declaration (2010) and the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security (1994). . “These documents establish the adherence of their signatories to the concept of equal and indivisible security and the obligation to comply with it.”
