The announcement was made by Nuno Melo at the conclusion of a ministerial meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
“We announced that we will invest 50 million euros in the PURL [Ukraine’s priority needs initiative], just as we announced that we will invest ten million euros in the British drone initiative […], although it is a British initiative, it invariably involves the production of national drones, so it is also an investment in the national defense industry,” stated the Minister of National Defense.
Nuno Melo clarified that this amount is part of the 221 million euros Portugal had already committed to Ukraine for this year, meaning that in 2025 there will be no additional funds to support the country invaded by Russia more than three years ago.
When asked whether he agrees that European NATO member states should purchase arms from the USA, excluding Washington from these counts, the minister responded that Ukraine has urgent armament needs that “in many cases, are not manufactured with such urgency in Europe.”
The minister emphasized that what is important is for Ukraine to have the equipment it needs to win the war.
Minutes earlier, the NATO Secretary General announced that 16 NATO member states had already committed to this initiative.
