Portugal will send more military material “in the near future”
Portugal has already envied between 60 and 70 tons of war material for Ukraine and “will send more in the near future”, said this Wednesday the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, upon arrival at a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Asked if Portugal is willing to provide more military equipment to Ukraine, after the NATO Secretary General announced, upon arrival for the meeting, that the country “has an urgent need” for more military support and here he hopes that the allies reach an agreement to that effect, Gomes Cravinho confirmed that more war material is planned to be sent, “whether defensive or offensive”, that is, “protective material and also offensive material”, namely weapons and ammunition.
“Portugal has been following Ukraine. I’m already jealous of more than 60, 70 tons of war material to send more in the future”, he said, confirming that the next material to be sent soon of the same type, because Ukraine is the material that Portugal will have to put in the hands of the Ukrainians. ”.
For “more details”, the new head of Portuguese diplomacy referred questions to his colleague Minister of National Defense, and successor in office, Helena Carreiras.
Regarding the meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Atlantic Alliance, which takes place between today and Thursday in the Belgian capital, João Gomes Cravinho indicated that the allies contest the support he could continue to give to the opportunity, a question that will have to be discussed with the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba.
“We will have with us the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Minister Kuleba, who will give us a briefing on the current situation in Ukraine and the perspective that the Ukrainian Government has on the situation and on the support it has been receiving”he said.
Regarding the policy of the Russia, and the day after the European Commission put on the table the proposal to a fifth package of EU restrictive measures aimed at Moscow, the minister commented that, “unfortunately the tendency is to accentuate as determined”.
“I say unfortunately because this is a direct result of Russia’s position. Russia continues to lash out, continues to commit atrocities, if unfortunately, and therefore the tendency is for them to increase as assured and not to increase considerably,” she said.
At the entrance to the NATO Secretary General’s meeting that Ukraine urgently needed more military support and said he hoped the Allies, meeting in Brussels at the level of diplomatic chiefs, would agree to provide “many different types of equipment”.
“Ukraine has a need for military support and one reason why it is so important that it is so important that Ukraine has them even more with many different types of equipment, both heavier as well as small arms systems,” said Jens Stoltenberg.
with LUSA