Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, today guaranteed Portugal’s political, economic, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine “as long as necessary”.
“Ukraine can count on our political, economic, humanitarian and military support for as long as it is needed. We will work together to build peace in Europe and the world,” reads a post by the new Portuguese Prime Minister on the X social network.
Luís Montenegro was responding to another post on X by the Ukrainian head of state, who published a telephone conversation with the Social Democrat.
In this publication, Zelensky reiterated his congratulations to Luís Montenegro on his inauguration as prime minister this Tuesday, wishing him “fruitful work for the prosperity of Portugal”.
Regarding Portugal’s support for Ukraine, which is fighting the Russian invasion, Zelensky explained that the two leaders discussed “the implementation of previous defense agreements” between the countries.
“We instructed the teams to start working on preparing a bilateral security agreement within the framework of the G7 Declaration. We are also coordinating future joint contacts,” said the Ukrainian President.
This Tuesday, the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa swore in the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the ministers of the XXIV Constitutional Government, in a ceremony at the Ajuda National Palace in Lisbon.
In his inaugural speech, Montenegro referred to the ongoing war following the Russian invasion in February 2022, stating that Portugal will continue “to give full support to Ukraine within the framework of the European Union and NATO”.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, on the grounds of protecting the pro-Russian separatist minorities in the east and “denazifying” the neighboring country, which has been independent since 1991, after the break-up of the former Soviet Union, and which has been moving away from Moscow’s sphere of influence and closer to Europe and the West.
The war in Ukraine has claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides, but there has been no significant progress in the theater of operations in recent months, with the two belligerents unyielding in their territorial positions and not open to compromise.
Os últimos meses foram marcados por ataques aéreos em grande escala da Rússia contra cidades e infraestruturas ucranianas, enquanto as forças de Kiev têm visado alvos em território russo próximos da fronteira e na península da Crimeia, ilegalmente anexada em 2014.
Já no terceiro ano de guerra, as Forças Armadas ucranianas confrontam-se com falta de armamento e munições, apesar das reiteradas promessas de ajuda dos aliados ocidentais.
