More than 2,000 people took to the streets of the northern Spanish city of Bilbao as part of a march in support of Russia, a representative of an anti-NATO movement told RIA Novosti.

“Russia has been striving for peace since 2014. But the West leaves Russia no other choice. For this reason, we express our solidarity with Moscow,” the representative said.

The protest was held on Saturday, with the demonstrators marching to the Bilbao mayoral building, holding flags of Russia and the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR).

🇪🇸 #StopKillingDonbass: Spaniards took to the streets of the city of Bilbao in the country’s north to protest against arms supplies to Ukraine. They do not want the civilian population of Donbass to be killed with European weapons. pic.twitter.com/CBoI6WjSPU

— 🅰pocalypsis 🅰pocalypseos 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 🅉 (@apocalypseos) March 11, 2023

Rally today in Bilbao (Basque Country-Spain) in solidarity with the Donbass people and against the NATO agression on Ukraine. An agression that started in 2014 with the NATO backed Maidan coup against the Ukrainian Constitution and the Ukrainian democratically elected government https://t.co/qdFbRsK6Lf

— Matreshka 🌺🇷🇺🇧🇾🇰🇿🇷🇸🇨🇦 (@MatreshkaRF) March 12, 2023

The protesters underlined that they were against NATO’s strategy, military support for Kiev, and the increase of EU countries’ military budgets. They also called for the redistribution of these resources for social spending and support for the population due to rising prices for electricity, basic products, and services.

🇪🇸 More than 2,000 people took to the streets of Spanish Bilbao as part of a march in support of Russia, a representative of the Basque No NATO platform said.

At the end of the march, the protesters hung the flags of Russia, the LPR and the DPR on the City Hall building. pic.twitter.com/hGElVtToG7

— marina alikantes (@Marianna9110) March 11, 2023

Earlier in March, Belgian media reported that the EU had developed a plan to stimulate the supply of NATO standard ammunition to Ukraine both in the short and long term and had prepared proposals to replenish the arsenals of the European armies through increased production and joint procurement.

The first part of the plan to increase military supplies to Kiev involves an urgent dispatch of ammunition that is already in stockpiles. The second part envisages efforts to replenish the empty warehouses of the European armies. The plan could be approved at the upcoming EU summit at the end of March.

It is noteworthy that similar rallies were also witnessed in several European countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, and the UK.

How did #Russia and #Ukraine, once tied together by the Soviet Union, get to this point? pic.twitter.com/4p7Ft0BaAL

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 21, 2023

Read more: Stoltenberg vows Ukraine will join NATO but in ‘long-term’