MADRID (BLOOMBERG) - Spain will send arms to Ukraine in a shift in policy for a country that has previously resisted delivering weapons directly to the country.

"I wanted to announce that Spain will deliver offensive military material to the Ukrainian resistance," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in comments to Parliament on Wednesday (March 2).

Spain joins a growing group of governments that have pledged aid to Ukraine. At the weekend, Germany agreed to supply Kyiv with weapons in a historic shift in policy.

Mr Sanchez had previously said Spain would seek to channel military aid to Ukraine through a European Union fund.

The change of policy could put Mr Sanchez at odds with his junior government partner, the far-left Podemos party, which has opposed arms shipments.

"Contributing to the escalation of the war will not resolve the conflict sooner and could lead us to a completely uncertain and very dangerous scenario of world conflict," Ms Ione Belarra, the head of Podemos, said in a statement.

Follow The Straits Times' live coverage on the Ukraine crisis here.