Kiev, election scene

There are political behaviours that ooze abundant self-interest, even if the context and setting in which they are practised may be more than conducive to receiving all possible support. There is no doubt that Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, need all the political support possible with meetings and declarations by international institutions and individual governments and parliaments of Western countries, the support expressed on the ground with physical presence in the battered Ukrainian capital of Kiev and, above all, what really counts is economic funding and the delivery of the necessary weapons so that the Ukrainians can defend themselves and fight back to regain lost territory.

NATO allies weigh very carefully what kind of weaponry they send to Ukraine to prevent Russia from considering going to war against them as well and the dreaded escalation to nuclear weapons. The result of this strategy is the high number of casualties that every kilometre recaptured costs the Ukrainians. That is why Zelenski demands from his visitors, in all sorts of tones and attitudes, the supply of F-16 fighter jets, modern anti-aircraft and attack systems with much more ammunition, and lays his dead on the table when the nuclear risk is mentioned. It is a small thing that the Spanish prime minister and this half of the European Council, Pedro Sánchez, is offering four more Leopard tanks in addition to the ten already supplied, and a field hospital. In the Ukrainian parliament, Sánchez's fine words evoking the dream of the invaded to regain their freedom and the European determination to support them for as long as it takes and no matter the price to be paid, with the announcement of a new package of 55 million euros, 51 of them financed by the World Bank, and promising EU membership for this eastern country in the future and after the reforms have been carried out, were a bit of a squeak in the Ukrainian parliament. And the final word should have been when and how the war ends. 

The obvious question is, can Spain do much more for Ukraine? The fact is that in his frenetic and ongoing election campaign with photos and interviews wherever a vote can be achieved, Sánchez's visit to Kiev, without doubting the most positive aspect, is summed up in the cold handshake with Zelenski at the end of the press conference. A day earlier, it was former US Vice President Mike Pence who used Kiev as an electoral stage in the race for the Republican nomination for next year's presidential elections.  This photo does have a lot of relevance.