Another EU leader faces aircraft problem - Third incident this week
Photo: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (Getty Images)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was unable to attend the Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris due to technical issues with his aircraft. This marks the third aviation-related incident involving key European leaders within a week, Sky News reports
The Prime Minister of Spain will attend the summit virtually today after a technical issue with his aircraft prevented him from being physically present.
Reportedly, Sanchez was already in the air when, due to problems with the aircraft, he had to return to Madrid, according to a spokesperson from his office.
This happened shortly after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plane was affected by a GPS jamming allegedly deployed by Russia. However, there is no indication that today's incident is connected to that.
Furthermore, yesterday, the plane carrying Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda was temporarily unable to land at Vilnius Airport due to a reported drone activity
Meeting in Paris
Today, September 4, around 30 world leaders are meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss future security guarantees for Kyiv. This is taking place against the backdrop of uncertainty around US commitments.
According to Reuters, Ukraine’s allies have already finalized the technical aspects of these guarantees and are preparing a political message for the US President.
This information was confirmed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who stated that the preparation of security guarantees for Ukraine is complete, and that the contributions from allies have been documented and confirmed at the level of defense ministers.
In addition, yesterday, Zelenskyy stated that European security guarantees may not be enough to deter a possible new Russian invasion, explaining why US participation is critically important.
