Pedro Sánchez reiterates Europe's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity in the UN Security Council

UN Headquarters, New York (United States)

In this context, and as acting President of the country that holds the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, he stressed Spain's and the European Union's commitment to an effective multilateralism that defends the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. President Sánchez reiterated his strong condemnation of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and his support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "There is no room for equidistance in the analysis of the situation", he stressed, recalling that in this conflict "there is an aggressor and an aggressed".

President Sánchez highlighted the seriousness of the situation, recalling that the legitimate aspirations of each country cannot be defended "at the cost of violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries by force". In this regard, he reiterated his concern that violations of these principles are being committed "by a permanent member of the main international body responsible for ensuring them", i.e. the UN Security Council.

The acting President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, at the meeting of the United Nations Security Council | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

Pedro Sánchez also recalled the devastating impact that this war is having on food, nuclear and energy security around the world, and called on the Russian Federation to stop using hunger as a weapon of war and to return immediately to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Pedro Sánchez reiterated that both Spain and Europe are working for peace, with the aim of ending this aggression and the suffering in Ukraine, and defending the international order based on the rules that make peaceful coexistence between nations possible. In this regard, he recalled the support for President Zelenskyy's peace formula, stressing that it will be up to Ukraine, as the aggrieved country, to determine the time and conditions for initiating the process to end the conflict. "The EU will continue to provide strong political, economic, military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine for as long as necessary," he said, stressing support for the country's reconstruction and accountability for war crimes. "To achieve peace, Russia must stop its aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine," he stressed.

The acting President of the Government of Spain stressed the importance of holding a broad debate on security in Europe, and emphasised that such a debate "is not possible while the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one of the parties is being violated".

Non official translation