Zelensky asks Spain and Latin America for help rebuilding Ukraine's energy grid

Appeal from Madrid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Spain and countries in Latin America on Thursday, 5 November, for help rebuilding and restoring Ukraine's energy system, which he said Russian attacks have destroyed. He made the request in Madrid on the sidelines of the 30th Ibero-American Summit, which ended that day in the Spanish capital. Among the leaders present were Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the presidents of Guatemala and Honduras, Bernardo Arévalo and Nasry Asfura, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and European Council President António Costa. Zelensky told the meeting that Ukraine urgently needs as much international cooperation as possible to keep rebuilding its power network.

What Ukraine needs

Zelensky listed the equipment Ukraine needs: transformers, electrical cables, modern electronic equipment and several types of generators, some running on oil and some on natural gas. He said companies in Spain and Latin America could help. He cited transformers from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, electrical cables from Chile, and electronic equipment, cables and generators made in Spain. He stressed that the equipment has to match Ukraine's electricity network and arrive quickly. He asked the hosts to help connect Ukrainian buyers with companies and their production capacity so that supplies could reach Ukraine as soon as possible.

Diplomatic backdrop

Zelensky was in Berlin on Tuesday, 3 November, before travelling to Spain. His Madrid visit took place against new diplomatic efforts to revive hopes for peace and a rapprochement between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Those efforts have raised fears in Kyiv of a possible American withdrawal of support. In an interview with the German broadcaster ZDF, Zelensky said stronger American financial and military aid could push Putin to reconsider continuing the war and create better conditions for negotiations and peace. He expressed hope that the outcome of the US midterm elections would bring greater American support for Ukraine, and he stressed the importance of bipartisan cooperation and of keeping the alliance between the United States and Europe intact. The Madrid appeal comes as Ukraine prepares for a difficult winter under the threat of renewed Russian bombing.

Talks in the Gulf

Negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, under American mediation, are scheduled to resume on 10 and 11 November in the United Arab Emirates. The talks come more than four and a half years after the start of the Russian invasion. Zelensky is seeking both continued military and economic support and the international aid needed for the country's energy survival and reconstruction. Kyiv's requests in Madrid therefore come ahead of those negotiations.