United for Ukraine urges Spain stop gas

Spain just got called out on two fronts at once — weapons for Ukraine and gas money for Russia. On May 7, a delegation from the parliamentary network United for Ukraine went to Madrid and argued that Spain cannot say it backs Kyiv while still buying Russian gas. They also pushed Spain to step up military and economic support. That matters because this is not random activist pressure. It came from politicians tied to Ukraine and some of Europe’s most hawkish countries on Russia. (abc.com.py) ### Who was doing the pressuring? United for Ukraine is a cross-border parliamentary network built to keep weapons, sanctions, reconstruction and Ukraine’s EU path on Western agendas. The group says it brings together more than 200 lawmakers from 30 countries. The Madrid delegation included representatives linked to U(abc.com.py)one. (united4ukraine.network) ### Why aim this at Spain? Because Spain looks supportive in rhetoric but more mixed in the details. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has kept backing Ukraine politically and announced a new military assistance package in Kyiv in February 2025. But Spain has also been one of the EU countries still taking Russian LNG, which critics say keeps cash flowing to the Kremlin even while Europe condemns the war. (lamoncloa.gob.es) ### Why does the gas issue bite so hard? The argument is simple — every cargo of Russian gas is still energy revenue for Moscow. That is why the delegation framed gas purchases not as a trade technicality but as part of the war effort’s financing chain. The catch is that LNG has been harder for Europe to quit than pipeline gas. It moves through global shipping, long-term contracts, and terminals built to keep supply flexible after the 2022 energy shock. (malagaldia.es) ### Isn’t the EU already banning this? Basically, yes — but on a timetable, not all at once. The EU’s Russian gas phaseout tightened after a political agreement in December 2025. For short-term LNG contracts signed before June 17, 2025, the import prohibition started on April 25, 2026. Long-term LNG contracts signed before that date run until January (malagaldia.es) to Spain was really: don’t wait for the deadline if you can stop sooner. (ec.europa.eu) ### What about military support? That was the second half of the push. Reports from the Madrid event say the delegation also tied credibility on Ukraine to defense spending, pointing at Spain’s struggle to reach NATO’s 2% of GDP benchmark. In other words, they were not just asking for warmer words or symbolic solidarity. They were asking for harder commitments — more aid, more spending, less Russian energy. (eldiariodemadrid.es) ### Why does this feel different now? Because the politics of support for Ukraine have gotten more specific. Early in the war, broad declarations of solidarity carried a lot of weight. Four years in, the argument is more transactional and measurable — how many weapons, how much budget, how many gas cargos, how fast are you (eldiariodemadrid.es)ation over Russian imports longer than many expected. (cepa.org) ### So what is the real takeaway? This was a pressure campaign dressed as a diplomatic visit. United for Ukraine used Madrid to make a broader point to Western Europe: support for Kyiv now gets judged less by speeches and more by whether countries are still funding, delaying, or hedging. Spain is being told to pick a lane before the EU’s legal phaseout timetable does it for them. (cepa.org)ide-a-espana-mas-apoyo-militar-y-que-deje-de-comprar-gas-ruso/))