I am appearing after the National Security Council presided over by the Head of State, King Felipe VI, and the first thing I would like to convey to the Spanish people is the resounding condemnation; the total and resounding condemnation by our country, Spain, of the unacceptable military actions of Putin's government in Ukraine.
The facts, as you know, are both very serious and very simple. A nuclear power has violated international law and begun an invasion of a neighbouring country, while threatening retaliation against any other nation that comes to the aid of the attacked country.
It is therefore, from every point of view, a flagrant violation of international law, national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And it is something more. It is a frontal attack on the principles, on the values - above all, the value of peace - that have brought Europe years of stability and prosperity.
This is a crisis that undoubtedly causes unbalances far beyond the countries directly involved in the conflict. It is certain to have far-reaching consequences, which is why UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' clear-cut appeal to President Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine and stop the conflict is understandable.
Spain shares interests with the European Union, but above all we share values. And these values are at the basis of our Constitution, of the Spanish Constitution, and are, moreover, values and principles widely shared by Spanish citizens. The values of peace, respect for international law, solidarity and humanitarian cooperation with the peoples affected.
And it is precisely these values that will inspire us in this crisis. Spain will defend international legality, Spain will strive to restore peace, Spain will show solidarity with the peoples affected by this conflict.
We are, without a doubt, committed to peace and to the way in which we must guarantee that peace, which, if we want it to be effective, we must try to stop this aggression as soon as possible.
That is why the European Union and the rest of the European Union's allies have adopted a first package of sanctions with a clear objective, which is to prevent further aggression by Putin's government, which has already, unfortunately, cost too many lives. The European Union and allies also want to demonstrate to the Putin government that violations of international law and violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of third countries cannot and must not go unpunished.
We are also committed to international legality, and the most effective way to work for international legality is to sanction its violation. The European Council will meet again tonight in an extraordinary session to define the European Union's response to this flagrant violation of international law. We have been in contact for many weeks with our partners, with our allies, to provide a coordinated and united European response to this crisis.
We show solidarity with the peoples affected by the aggression, and the most effective way of exercising that solidarity is to help Ukraine from the European Union: with financial aid, as we have been doing for some weeks now, to deal with the current difficulties, with economic and financial solvency, also with important investments to protect the well-being of the Ukrainian people and, of course, also with health material.
I have informed the leader of the opposition of all this and I will appear before Parliament next Wednesday to inform all the parliamentary groups of the decisions that will be taken at a European level.
I would also like to remember all the Spaniards who are currently in Ukraine. The Spanish Embassy in Kiev has been in contact with the Spanish community for some weeks now. There are 436 Spaniards registered at the Embassy, of whom a hundred have already returned to our country, leaving just over 320 compatriots. Our consular services are maintaining telephone contact with the residents of Ukraine to provide them with the information available at this difficult time about the possibilities and ways to leave Ukraine or to evacuate, as soon as the situation allows. And, likewise, the Spanish Embassy in Warsaw is on standby to provide logistical support, all the logistical support that is necessary.
What I can guarantee is that the Government of Spain, in collaboration with our European partners, will attend to and provide the necessary assistance to Spanish citizens who are still in Ukraine.
This conflict and the sanctions resulting from it will undoubtedly have an economic impact on our country and on the European Union, especially on the energy markets.
The Government of Spain, as you know, in coordination with the European Union, has been preparing for some time now to react to this risk of military aggression and crisis, which has unfortunately been confirmed.
We will therefore take whatever measures are necessary to mitigate the economic impact, including the energy impact, of this crisis on Spanish society, on its companies, on households, on industry, and undoubtedly also on the economic recovery that we are beginning to see on the verge of overcoming the pandemic.
The European Union has a new opportunity, as it did with COVID-19 and its devastating effects, to demonstrate unity, solidarity and integration by dedicating the necessary means and taking the appropriate decisions to deal with this serious crisis and its economic effects.
The position of the Government of Spain has been very clear from the outset. We have supported and pushed the diplomatic route to the extreme, the route of dialogue to reach a solution that would avoid this escalation of war. And at the same time we have done something important, which is to emphasise that together with the whole of Europe, we would never accept unjust, unjustified aggression, and that we would therefore sanction any violation of international law.
In the eyes of the Government of Spain, we need to maintain the unity of all those of us who believe in democracy, in the rule of law, in a world based on rules and therefore on certainty, in peace, in respect for borders, in national sovereignty and in the freedom of peoples, in this case Ukraine, to choose their future.
With our unity we are sending a clear, sharp, resounding message of our determination to stand up for what we believe in.
Spain wishes to maintain a relationship of friendship and respect with all the peoples of the world, and it is precisely from the friendship we profess to the Russian people, from the affection we profess to the thousands of Russian citizens who live in harmony on Spanish soil, that we send a clear message to Putin's government, and that is to demand an immediate end to the hostilities, to revoke recognition of the independence of the territories that form part of another sovereign nation, in this case Ukraine; we demand that it fulfil its commitments as signatory to the Minsk agreements.
Ultimately, we call on the Putin government to comply with international law and to return to discussions within the Normandy format and the Trilateral contact group.
Today, two paths are opening up before Spain and before the entire European Union, which is what I would also like to convey to the Spanish people to conclude this institutional declaration.
The path of peace and international legality is open, or the path of illegitimate force, which leads only to world disorder and insecurity, can also be opened. And for Spain, I am convinced that for the majority of Spaniards, as well as for the European Union as a whole, the choice is hard, but it is simple: we are a country, we are a democracy, we are a union, committed to the values of peace, international legality and solidarity.
Thank you.
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