President praises Spanish PM’s contribution to support for Ukraine

The Head of State said this at the year-end press conference, when asked by a representative of Spanish media outlets about his assessment of Spain's presidency of the EU Council.

"Pedro (Sanchez - ed.) is a great person. He helped a lot, and Spain’s presidency of the EU Council in the second half of the year, I believe, brought us closer," Zelensky said.

According to the President, he spoke with the Spanish prime minister also after the approval of the decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine.

"That is, our relations are strong, we send important signals via WhatsApp about how to support Ukraine, and Pedro (Sanchez) always calls me directly," Zelensky said.

According to the President, he was impressed with the meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister in Granada, which was very productive,

"On the spot, Pedro (Sanchez) changed the defense package, and we agreed that he would give us additional Hawk (air defense systems). This was at the moment when Russia was firing at [Ukraine]... It was such a quick reaction, I am very grateful to him and the people of your country," the President emphasized.

As reported, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on December 13 that he hoped to start negotiations on EU enlargement with Ukraine before the end of his country's six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council on December 31.