A meeting of the utmost relevance to the political and international agenda of Pedro Sánchez which, according to the celebration in Moncloa, consolidates the role and position of the Prime Minister in the main political decision-making centers 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 the same day that the electoral campaign will begin in Spain for the appointment with the municipal and regional ballot boxes on May 28.
Shortly after his meeting with Biden in the oval office, Sánchez will assume the Spanish presidency of the European Council from July 1. And the war in Ukraine will be one of the main issues that the two presidents will address in the White House.
The Spanish president will culminate with the American leader the meetings he already held with the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky on February 23 in Kyiv, when it was one year since the invasion of Russia, and with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on March 31 in Beijing. Sánchez was the first European leader to receive Xi after meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The now confirmed appointment between Sánchez and Biden has been being prepared for months with constant and discreet diplomatic work. In fact, almost a year of work has passed since the Spanish president received the American at the Moncloa palace on June 28, 2022 for the NATO summit held in Madrid.
On that occasion, which reaffirmed the political and even personal connection and harmony between Sánchez and Biden, with episodes such as the dinner of world leaders at the Prado Museum, the American president already communicated to the Spanish the intention of invite him to the White House, according to government sources. Then the two presidents again held a long meeting on the occasion of the G-20 summit held in Bali in November.
Confirmation of the appointment by Washington finally arrived yesterday. According to diplomatic custom, the official announcement was made by the spokeswoman of the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre, and then confirmed by Moncloa.
With the invitation, framed in the receptions of the President of the United States to the main European partners, Biden recognizes the Spanish contribution to the multinational support to Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, as well as the role of special relevance as a bridge with Latin America and the caribbean
The visit of the Spanish president to the capital of the United States "will - according to the White House and Moncloa - deepen the already close relations" that exist between the two countries, "friends, partners and allies".
"The two presidents will reaffirm their commitment to the transatlantic link and to their firm support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression," highlighted the statement issued by Moncloa. The Government's text was obviously agreed with the Biden team, which for its part underlined the intention of the host to "review the efforts" of the two partners "as NATO allies and close partners for strengthen the bilateral relationship in 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 from July 1, such as climate change and expanded cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean," said the White House through Press Secretary Karine-Jean Pierre.
La Moncloa pointed out the "genuine interest of both parties" in strengthening 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 corresponds to the density and breadth of relations between the two countries", added la Moncloa, where yesterday there was great satisfaction with the announcement.
The visit to Washington will force Sánchez to postpone the first act of the electoral campaign on 28 M planned for Seville by one day. Instead of May 12, the start of the campaign, it will be May 13, and the leader of the PSOE will travel directly from the capital of the United States to the Andalusian capital.
