Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will arrive in Ukraine by Thursday morning train, the Spanish publication OK diario reported.
“This will be Sanchez’s second trip to Ukraine. He has already been to the country last April. The travel plan, as confirmed by OK diario sources close to the prime minister, is very similar to the one he used then. The president and his team will fly from Madrid to the Polish city of Rzeszow on board an official plane… Once on Polish soil, the government delegation will travel by land to the Ukrainian border. Pedro Sanchez and his accompanying team are expected to board an overnight train early at night, which will take them to the capital, where they will arrive shortly before 8 a.m.,” the report said.
The publication notes that plans for the trip were denied until recently.
In Kiev, Sanchez is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. “It is not yet known whether he will make any statement during the president’s stay in Ukraine about Spain’s bilateral support for Zelensky, as he did several months ago and as they did on each of his visits by other international leaders who met with Zelensky at the Ukrainian president’s headquarters,” the report notes.
As reported, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed that at least six German-made Leopard tanks will be sent to Ukraine from Spain in early April this year.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Kiev on Tuesday, her spokesman told AFP.
Meloni is expected to hold talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
After a long break, the construction of the subway to Vynohradar has been resumed in Kiev.
As the head of the Kyiv subway Viktor Brahinsky said on the air of TSN, the contractor has resumed the construction of a new subway station in Kyiv – Vinohradar: first the consolidation of already built tunnels will be completed, and then will begin construction of the second tunnel from Mostitskaya station to Syrets station.
According to Brahinsky, there is no clear timeline for the completion of the work yet, because the pace of construction is affected by the current situation in the country.
“Of course, the pace of construction is affected by the current situation, because construction crews and everyone involved in the construction during the air alert must be safe. In addition, the unstable power supply slows down the work process. But despite the difficulties arising from the war, the Kiev city authorities and the subway are making every effort to ensure that this project will continue,” – said the head of the subway.
Previously, the capital authorities had promised the citizens to open the first station at the end of 2021, but it did not meet the deadline, and then the war began. According to the previously published project, the Kyiv subway is going to build four new stations from “Syrets” terminus: “Mostitskaya”, “Prospekt Pravda”, “Vinogradar” and “Marshala Grechko Street”.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and U.S. President Joseph Biden will discuss the course of hostilities and further measures aimed at supporting Ukraine during a meeting in Kiev on Monday, February 20, the press service of the Office of the President reported.
As specified, Zelensky met with Biden at the Mariinsky Palace. After introducing the members of the Ukrainian and American delegations, the presidents of Ukraine and the United States talked in a face-to-face format.
Zelensky noted that Biden’s visit was an extremely important signal of support for Ukraine and Ukrainians, and stressed that Biden personally and the entire American society have been with Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia.
“The first phone call of support for Ukraine was from the White House. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you also for the bipartisan support, for the support from Congress,” he said.
The president of Ukraine said he would talk to the U.S. president about the situation on the front lines and also about the Ukrainian people, who are going through a very difficult time.
“What we have to do to stop the war, to have success in this war, to make Ukraine even stronger and how to win this year,” he said.
For his part, Biden noted the importance of his presence in Ukraine today, which demonstrates U.S. support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“I think it would be critical to leave no doubt that the U.S. supports Ukraine in its war against brutal aggression,” he said.
The U.S. president described his intention to discuss how the United States and allies can effectively help Ukraine fight for freedom and independence. He also conveyed greetings from members of Congress. According to Biden, they were very impressed by Zelensky’s recent speech to Congress.
He also said he was glad to visit Kiev again.
“A lot has changed since the last trip. Terrible things have happened, the invasion, but at the same time, the Ukrainians have shown themselves in a way that very few nations have ever shown themselves in their defense. And they helped us understand the importance of democracy,” Biden stressed.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will pay an official visit to Kiev on Tuesday, February 21, during which he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, il Fatto Quotidiano reported.
“The visit was announced and postponed several times. But Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wants to demonstrate unconditional support for Ukraine (by Rome – IFU) outside of Italy,” the report says.
It notes that during his visit Meloni is likely to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine.
Reuters, in its turn, wrote that Meloni will go on a visit to Kiev on Monday, February 20.
Kyiv has restored in full operation of ground electric transport after a 56-day break due to a power supply shortage as a result of Russian strikes on the energy system, the Kyiv city military administration has said.
“Today, all electric transport in the capital has returned to its routes. There are now 286 vehicles on 46 trolleybus routes and 195 vehicles on 32 tram routes,” the KGVA said in a statement on its telegram channel on Friday.
“We have overcome a severe transport crisis. The restoration of stable life in Ukraine’s capital is another small but important step towards our future Victory,” said CGVA chief Sergey Popko, who was quoted in the report.
“The effective work of the city authorities, power engineers and repair crews has practically restored the stability of Kiev’s energy infrastructure. This has allowed the city to gradually return to the resumption of urban ground electric transport,” the statement said. According to KGVA, individual tram and trolleybus lines have alternately been launched in recent days.
On December 23, 2022, because of power shortage, work of ground electric transport of capital (trams and trolley buses) has been stopped. Buses operated on the routes of ground electric transport.
In total, the capital lived without electric transport for 56 days.
