Ukraine's Zelensky heads to Spain in search of more weapons to fight Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Madrid on Monday where he is expected to sign a bilateral security agreement with Spain that will help his country wage its more than two-year war against Russia, amid a recent offensive by the forces of the Kremlin.

Spain's King Felipe VI met with Zelensky at the airport in Barajas, the capital. The Ukrainian leader was due to speak with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez over what local media reported as a planned 1.1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) deal for Spain to provide more weapons to Ukraine.

Zelensky was scheduled to visit Spain earlier this month, but he postponed all foreign trips after Kremlin forces launched a cross-border offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region and left Ukrainian troops reeling.

The surge has further strained the already exhausted Ukrainian army, which in recent months has fought off the intense Russian offensive in the partially occupied eastern region of Donetsk. Zelensky said Sunday that the Kremlin army was gathering at another location in Russia, further north but close to a front line of about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles), probably to try to break Ukrainian resistance In the region.

A Western intelligence assessment suggests that the Russian offensive in Kharkiv has abated.

“The northern Kharkiv front is likely to have stabilized, with Russian territorial control fragmented and unintegrated,” the British Ministry of Defense said on Sunday. “Russia’s progress on this axis will be limited in the coming week, as Russia’s initial momentum has been contained by Ukrainian resistance.”

This is consistent with Zelensky's assertion last Friday that Ukrainian forces provided “combat control” of areas where Russian troops entered the Kharkiv region.

The unfolding assault as the weather improves has given Ukraine the biggest military test since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Slow support from its Western partners, especially a long delay in US military aid, has left Ukraine at the mercy of Russia's larger forces. army and air force.

Spanish newspaper El Pais, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter, said it would include another batch of U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems that Ukraine has long argued for to help it repel attacks Russian missiles.

Other elements include more Leopard tanks for Ukraine and 155mm artillery shells which are the most used by Ukraine on the battlefield, El Pais reported. Spain will also continue to train Ukrainian troops and treat its wounded soldiers.

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