Ukraine’s European backers will secretly meet in Madrid next week to coordinate efforts to increase support, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Friday.
The organizers are reportedly maintaining “utmost secrecy” for the event planned for November 4, instructing delegates from 35 countries to leave their cell phones in a designated room and refrain from posting about the gathering on social media, according to a government document cited by the outlet.
Participants are expected to discuss ways to increase military and financial aid for Kiev, as well as possible security guarantees. They will also coordinate additional pressure on Russia. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares is set to attend, El Mundo said.
The Kremlin argued earlier this month that Ukrainian forces could not have carried out strikes on energy facilities deep inside Russia without direct support from Western intelligence services. Moscow has repeatedly said that Western military assistance will only escalate the conflict without altering the situation on the battlefield.
US President Donald Trump has recently declined to provide Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, warning against depleting the US arsenal. He also indefinitely postponed his planned in-person summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary.
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