Zelenskyy Arrives in Madrid on a Surprise Visit for Talks With Sánchez and Latin American Leaders
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Madrid on Wednesday for a series of high-level meetings coinciding with the Ibero-American Summit. His visit was kept secret for security reasons until his plane landed, and his schedule includes meetings with international leaders over the summit's two days.
On Thursday Zelenskyy will take part in a meeting with several of the leaders who have travelled to the capital, among them UN Secretary-General António Guterres and European Council President António Costa.
The presence of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is also expected at that meeting, along with other Ibero-American representatives. Besides this meeting, the Ukrainian president will hold bilateral talks with Sánchez and with Spanish King Felipe VI.
Holding the summit in Madrid is also an opportunity for Kyiv to strengthen its contacts with Latin American countries, a region where the war triggered by the Russian invasion continues to generate opposing positions. According to government sources, Zelenskyy plans to hold meetings with representatives of several of the 22 Ibero-American delegations present in the capital.
Zelenskyy confirmed his arrival on social media, saying 'our top priority is strengthening Ukraine's air defences, protecting our people, and expanding defence cooperation and production.'
'Further support steps are being prepared,' the Ukrainian president added, without providing details on the measures or the leaders he would meet.
The far-right presidents of Argentina and Chile, Javier Milei and Jose Antonio Kast, as well as Bolivian conservative Rodrigo Paz, are among the Latin American heads of state in the Spanish capital.
The Ibero-American format has lost influence in recent years, and reversing that trend is the key goal of the group's 30th summit in Madrid. At the last summit, held in Ecuador in 2024, a historically low four heads of state turned up and the divided participants failed to adopt a final declaration.
King Felipe VI told Ibero-American business leaders gathered in Madrid, 'The best response does not lie in protectionism, but in an open economy based on equal rules for everyone.' He rejected the idea that the response should be to close off national economies or raise trade barriers.
The King also said the region has significant energy resources and strategic raw materials, including critical minerals and rare earths. To make the most of these opportunities, he stressed the importance of 'stable environments, legal certainty and solid, transparent institutions.'
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares played down the empty seats on Wednesday before the foreign ministers' meeting, insisting, 'It is absolutely not a forum in decline.' His argument is that all 22 countries have someone in Madrid, at least their foreign minister, and that those not coming either rarely travel or face internal problems that prevent them from being away for several days.
