Spain's Sanchez to Trump: 'You cannot play Russian roulette with the destiny of millions'

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday doubled down on his opposition to the attack ​on Iran by the US and Israel, warning ‌that the conflict risked playing "Russian roulette" with the lives of millions.

Sanchez was responding after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid over its position on the conflict.

"This is how humanity's great disasters start ... You cannot play Russian roulette with destiny of millions," Sanchez said in a televised address to the nation.

Tensions between the two NATO allies increased after Sanchez denounced the US and Israeli bombings of Iran as reckless and illegal, and later banned US aircraft from using naval and air bases in southern Spain for the offensive against Tehran.

Sanchez said the world could not solve its problems with conflicts and bombs.

"The position of the Spanish government ‌can be summarised in four words: 'No to the war,'" he said, adding the stance was not disingenuous but coherent.

"We're not going to be complicit in something that's bad for the world nor contrary to our values and interests simply to avoid reprisals from someone," Sanchez said, appearing to reference Trump’s trade threats.

Sanchez highlighted the negative knock-on effects of the Iraq war, from a rise in jihadist terrorism to soaring energy prices, to argue that the consequences of this attack on Iran were just as nebulous and that it would not lead to a more just international order.