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Spanish PM arrives in Kyiv, to meet Zelensky

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in Kyiv early on July 1 to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky on the first day of Madrid's presidency at the EU Council.

"I wanted the first act of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council to be in Ukraine together with Zelensky," Sánchez said in a Twitter post upon arrival.

The Spanish prime minister's third visit to Kyiv during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine comes more than a year after Kyiv applied for EU membership in late February and was granted candidate status in June 2022.

"For the first time, the beginning of a country's presidency will be emphasized by a visit to Ukraine. And this actually says a lot about how important the next six months will be for our Europe," Zelensky commented on the upcoming visit on June 30.

"This is a historic time to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU. A Europe of values, a free and strong Europe, a Europe of peace is unthinkable without Ukraine."

Spain, a NATO and EU member, has continuously supported Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, providing training and military equipment, including Leopard 2 tanks.

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Asami Terajima

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Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues, front-line developments, and politics. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine.

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