The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will meet with the US President, Joe Biden, on Tuesday afternoon in La Moncloa, in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit, but taking advantage of the presence of the US President at the NATO summit, which begins in Madrid the following day. That same day, Biden will have a meeting with King Felipe VI, at the Royal Palace.
It will be the first meeting between the two leaders, aside from the brief meetings that have taken place between the two, due to the presence of the two at different NATO summits in other countries. President Biden will also be present at the official dinner offered by the King of Spain, Felipe VI, at the Royal Palace, to all the heads of state and government attending the summit, 41 world leaders.
According to government sources, the meeting aims to reaffirm the strategic union that exists between the two countries, according to government sources.
The interview between Sánchez and Biden will take place just after the President of the Government has lunch, also in La Moncloa, with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, who will arrive in Madrid on Tuesday at noon, after which he will tour with the President of the Government the facilities where the Summit will be held, at the Ifema in Madrid, after which both will offer a press conference.
Previously, the President of the Government will hold bilateral meetings with prime ministers with whom he has not yet met, given the distance between our countries. Thus, on the 28th he will hold meetings with the Prime Ministers of Australia, Anthony Albanese, and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern. The two meetings will take place on Tuesday morning at the Palacio de La Moncloa.
Also taking advantage of his stay, Madrid will make an official visit, with a meeting at the Palacio de La Moncloa, between the President of the Government and the first Canadian, Justin Trudeau, who will analyze bilateral relations between the two countries.
In addition to the official dinner at the Royal Palace that will take place on Tuesday night, the 41 leaders attending the NATO summit will meet at a dinner at the Prado Museum, where, in addition to a cultural day, where they will be accompanied by their companions, the presidents and heads of state will meet at a dinner, alone, which will be attended not only by the heads of the NATO member countries, but also by the countries of the European Union that are not part of the Atlantic Alliance, which will allow the assistance of Finland and Sweden, which have asked to join NATO. There will also be Malta, Austria, Cyprus and Ireland.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will also participate before the start of the summit in a public diplomacy event organized by the Elcano Royal Institute, where the role of NATO in a context of strategic competition will be discussed.
The actual summit will begin on Wednesday the 29th around 10:30 in the morning, and will do so with a session dedicated to Ukraine, which will include the intervention, via telematics, of the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, who was considered to be able to travel to Madrid , but given the extremely difficult circumstances in Ukraine, and the president's difficulties in entering and leaving the country, assistance was withdrawn.
However, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, will be present at the summit, accompanied by the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev.
From the Government it is requested that during these days that the summit be held, and given the security measures that have been adopted, and the mobility restrictions that will be imposed in the city, teleworking is carried out, and thus the government itself has issued a circular to the Ministries to facilitate this teleworking. In addition, Madrid residents are requested to use public transport.
