Kuleba informs Spanish FM about Russian troops on border

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain Arancha González Laya assured Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba of Spain's unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against the background of Russia's aggravation of the security situation.
This was said during a phone conversation between the ministers on April 14, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports.

"Arancha González Laya assured of Spain's unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine: ‘You can count on the support of Spain'," the report reads.

In particular, Kuleba informed his Spanish counterpart in detail about the threatening actions by the Russian Federation near the Ukrainian borders and the aggravation of the security situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The minister stressed that Russia is responsible for de-escalating the situation and reaffirmed the commitment of our state to a political and diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict.

The foreign ministers of the two countries coordinated their positions on the eve of a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on April 19, in which Kuleba will take part.

A separate topic of conversation was the preparation for the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform in Kyiv on August 23.

The ministers also agreed to revive the political dialogue between Ukraine and Spain, make joint efforts to increase trade and deepen cooperation in the security sphere. In this context, they discussed preparations for a visit of the prime minister of Spain to Ukraine, within which a business forum will also be held.

Arancha González Laya also accepted Kuleba's invitation to visit Ukraine as soon as the epidemic situation improves.

As Ukrinform reported, the Russian armed forces have recently been building up troops near the state border of Ukraine in the north, east and south, as well as in the occupied Crimea. In addition, the number of ceasefire violations by the armed formations of the Russian Federation in eastern Ukraine has increased; there are losses among the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian Federation is conducting a propaganda campaign to justify possible aggression against Ukraine.

On April 6, it also became known that, against the background of a buildup of troops to the Ukrainian border, Russia had begun a control check of the army's combat readiness.

The United States, other Western countries, as well as the EU and NATO, came out in support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity against the backdrop of Russia's escalation in eastern Ukraine.