MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez plans to visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kiev on Saturday as Spain takes over the European Union’s six-month rotating presidency.
Sanchez wants the trip to be the Spanish presidency’s first act “to show with his presence the EU’s undivided support to Ukraine in all fields: military, humanitarian and economic”, his office said.
He said the war in Ukraine and its consequences would be a priority during the presidency.
Countries holding the presidency traditionally try to set the agenda within the bloc, though the results ultimately depend on all member states.
Spain has set its sights on concluding a long-delayed trade deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc, an EU-wide migration deal, as well as pushing for a common corporate tax rate and moving forward the EU banking union.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Alison Williams)
