A meeting of the utmost importance in the political and international agenda of Pedro Sánchez which, according to what is being held at Moncloa, consolidates the role and position of the President of the Government in the main centers of political decision-making on a global scale.
The head of the Spanish Executive will visit the White House for the first time on May 12, invited by the President of the United States, Joe Biden. It will be exactly the same day that the electoral campaign begins in Spain for the appointment with the municipal and regional polls on May 28.
Shortly after his appointment with Biden in the oval office, Sánchez will assume the Spanish rotating presidency of the European Council as of July 1. And the war in Ukraine will be one of the main issues that both leaders will address in the White House.
The Spanish president will thus culminate with the North American leader the meetings that he already had with the Ukrainian Volodímir Zelenski on February 23 in Kyiv, one year after the invasion of Russia, and with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on February 31. March in Beijing. Sánchez was the first European leader Xi received after meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The now confirmed appointment between Sánchez and Biden has been preparing for months, with constant and discreet diplomatic work. In fact, it was almost a year of work since the Spanish president received the North American at the Moncloa palace, on June 28, 2022, on the occasion of the NATO summit held in Madrid.
On that occasion, which reaffirmed the connection and political and even personal harmony between Sánchez and Biden, with episodes such as the dinner of world leaders at the Prado Museum, the North American president already translated into Spanish his intention to invite him to the White House, according to government sources. Later, both leaders held a long meeting again on the occasion of the G-20 summit held in Bali, last November.
Until yesterday the confirmation of the appointment by Washington finally arrived. According to diplomatic custom, the official announcement corresponded to the White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, and later it was confirmed by Moncloa.
With his invitation, framed in the receptions of the US president to his main European partners, Biden recognizes the Spanish contribution to multinational support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, as well as its especially relevant role as a bridge with Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Spanish president's visit to the capital of the United States "will allow – according to the White House and Moncloa reports – to deepen the already close relations" that exist between the two countries, "friends, partners and allies".
"Both leaders will reaffirm their commitment to the transatlantic link and to the firm support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression," highlighted the statement issued by Moncloa. The Government's text was obviously agreed upon with the Biden team, which for its part underscored the host's intention to "review the efforts" of the two partners "as NATO allies and close partners to strengthen the bilateral relationship on matters defense, transatlantic security and economic prosperity.
At the meeting, Biden and Sánchez "will coordinate on a variety of issues as Spain prepares to assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union starting July 1, such as climate change and expanded cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean. ”, Said the White House through the mouth of its Press Secretary, Karine-Jean Pierre.
Moncloa pointed out the "genuine interest of both parties" in strengthening this cooperation in South America and in "defending democracy and an international order based on rules."
The two presidents "will review the existing cooperation in numerous areas, as befits the density and breadth of relations between the two countries," added Moncloa, where great satisfaction reigned yesterday over the announcement.
The visit to Washington will force Sánchez to postpone his first act of the 28-M electoral campaign, scheduled in Seville, for one day. Instead of May 12, the campaign's starting day, it will be May 13, and the PSOE leader will travel directly from the United States capital to the Andalusian capital.
