Robles does not rule out sending new defensive material to Ukraine and maintains that investing in Defense is creating jobs

MADRID, 8 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has assured that sending battle tanks to Ukraine -among which the Leonardo de Zaragoza has stood out once they are repaired- is a possibility that is on the table to continue helping the defense of the country invaded by Russia. In this sense, she has argued that the increase in GDP in Defense is "investing in the creation of jobs" and in peace.

This is how the minister spoke this Tuesday in an interview on Cadena Ser, collected by Europa Press, when asked about the possibility of making a new shipment of military material to Ukraine, which has continued to be at war since last February.

Of course, the Minister of Defense has clarified that the Leopardo battle tanks, which are located at the Zaragoza base, have not been in operation for "many years", since 1995 --she specified--, so "in the Today it would not make sense to send them because they are not in use" and they would have to make the corresponding repairs.

"That some type of important repairs can be made, we would see," he underlined after adding that the possibility of said shipment after being repaired "is on the table", although they are long procedures and should be done in a "coordinated" way with other countries, he explained.

Along these lines, Robles has also made it clear that if at any time the Ukrainian government asked Spain for help to bring Ukrainian soldiers and train them here, the Spanish Executive would be willing to do so "without any doubt".

At another point, when asked about the criticism from United We Can and other government partners about the announcement by the president, Pedro Sánchez, of the increase in defense spending and reaching 2% of GDP set by NATO, Robles has maintained that increasing spending in his Ministry implies "modernity, technology and the creation of jobs".

"Investing in Defense is investing in peace. Investing in Defense is investing in jobs", he claimed to recall that all the countries of the European Union and NATO have opted to increase the Defense budget.

In line, he has responded to these criticisms by assuring that to achieve peace "you have to get involved in it and work for peace" while at the same time valuing the work of the Spanish Armed Forces deployed in various countries.

"We all want peace. There are some who speak of peace and others who work for peace," he added.

Regarding the increase in the defense spending budget, he did not want to specify a date on which this increase in the budgets can be reflected, although he insisted that the commitment was "assumed" and will be "in many years." "2030, for example", he has launched.