Zelenskyy Lands in Madrid for Air Defence Talks Before Abu Dhabi Peace Push

Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy via X

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy landed in Madrid on Wednesday for talks on strengthening Ukraine's air defences, days before US officials are due to bring Ukrainian and Russian delegations together in Abu Dhabi. He will meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday, on the sidelines of a summit of Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations.

Zelenskyy announced the visit himself on social media, saying his top priorities in Madrid are stronger air defences, protecting Ukrainian people, and expanding defence cooperation and production with Spain. He thanked Spain for the help it has already given and said new steps in support are being prepared. Reuters reports that his talks in Madrid will focus on the air defences Ukraine needs to counter Russian air strikes as winter approaches.

He arrived from Germany, where he held talks on Tuesday with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Bundestag President Julia Klockner. This is his fifth visit to Spain since Russia's full scale invasion began in February 2022. On his last visit, in March this year, Sanchez announced a 1 billion euro military aid package for Ukraine during a joint press conference in Madrid.

The timing of the Madrid stop is no accident. The city is hosting a two day summit of the Ibero-American Community, a 22 nation group of Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, most of them in Latin America. Support for Ukraine since 2022 has divided opinion across that group, and leaders now in Madrid include Argentina's Javier Milei, Chile's Jose Antonio Kast and Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz. After the summit finishes on Thursday, Zelenskyy will meet Sanchez and several other leaders to discuss Ukraine, its global effects and the main challenges for international peace and security, according to Spanish government sources quoted by Arab News.

Madrid is also a staging post for what comes next. Zelenskyy said contacts with the American side are planned in the coming days, and that he is coordinating with partners to achieve concrete results on security and the next steps toward peace. US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff has said the United States will bring together delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November to discuss ending the war, post-war security agreements and de-escalation. That follows the hopes Zelenskyy set out earlier this week, when he said the Abu Dhabi talks could open the way to a meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Spain's role in this diplomacy is easy to miss, but it matters. Madrid has backed Kyiv steadily, and the Ibero-American summit gives Zelenskyy a rare chance to speak directly to Latin American leaders whose votes and voices carry weight in the wider debate about the war. A meeting with Sanchez, plus talks with other summit leaders, also lets him press the air defence case in person, rather than by video link, just as the winter bombing campaign gathers pace.

What this means in plain terms: Ukraine is heading into another winter under Russian air attack, and Zelenskyy is using a summit in Madrid to lock in more air defence help and to line up his position before sitting down, through American mediation, with the Russians in Abu Dhabi next week. Other recent diplomatic moves show the same pattern, from mass protests in Denmark over defence funded budget cuts to political upheaval in Spain itself and coalition talks in Israel.

Sources

• Reuters: Zelenskiy in Spain to meet Sanchez, other leaders at Ibero-American summit
• Arab News: Zelensky in Spain for talks with world leaders
• United24 Media: Zelenskyy returns to Madrid to meet Sanchez ahead of Abu Dhabi talks

The next test is Thursday's meeting with Sanchez, and then the Abu Dhabi talks on 10 and 11 November, where the world will see whether the diplomacy produces anything more than another round of meetings.

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