MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain will supply “offensive military hardware” to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told parliament on Wednesday.
“I… want to announce to you that Spain will also deliver offensive military hardware to the Ukrainian resistance,” Sanchez said.
Until now, Spain had said it would send military support only as part of a wider package unveiled by the European Union on Sunday, in which Brussels agreed to unblock 450 million euros ($500 million) for member states to buy arms for Ukraine.
Sanchez said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine “is a brutal attempt to stop the construction of a European space based on values radically opposed to the authoritarianism he represents”.
The announcement comes a day after Spain said it would send 150 additional troops to Latvia as part of a wider NATO build-up in the Baltic region.
The country already has 350 troops in the alliance’s enhanced forward presence battlegroup in Latvia.
The United States, Canada and more than a dozen European countries have so far responded to Ukrainian appeals for military equipment.
© Agence France-Presse
