Amid first-ever visit by Spanish premier, Kenyan president hails ties, cooperation

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Welcoming the first-ever visit by a Spanish premier to his country, Kenya's president on Wednesday hailed economic ties and voiced common ground on the war in Ukraine and security issues.

"We commit to strengthen economic and investment relations between our countries and appreciate that bilateral flows have shown a very positive growth trend over the last decade," William Ruto said in a joint press conference in the capital Nairobi, alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Advocating closer trade ties between Kenya and Spain, Ruto said Nairobi "welcomes the interest of Spanish companies in various sectors including tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, water management and renewable energy."

He also vowed to increase Kenya's cooperation with Spain on the bilateral and multilateral levels.

Sanchez is on a two-day visit to the East African nation, the first since diplomatic relations were established 57 years ago.​​​​​​​

Three memorandums of understanding on trade, health, and education were signed during the talks between the two leaders, who focused on strengthening bilateral ties.

For his part, Sanchez underlined Africa's role as a key partner and priority of his country.

"We have agreed to develop a broad bilateral agenda, fostering political, economic and cultural cooperation," Sanchez said on his first leg of his visit to Africa. He is expected to head to South Africa on Thursday.

Ruto and Sanchez also called for issues on Ukraine to be resolved as soon as possible.

"Spain and Kenya hold the same position on matters to do with Ukraine, and we believe that the internationally recognized instruments that call for the respect of boundaries of countries is the bare minimum that any nation should live by, and it is our position as Kenya and East Africa that the issues around Ukraine should be resolved in the earliest time possible," Ruto said.

The two leaders said they would continue to work together in the fight against terrorism, which they said was the main cause of instability and insecurity at the global level.They also agreed to develop permanent dialogue, building on common principles and shared values.