Portugal announces a new aid program for Ukraine at a “critical moment
Portugal will donate 14 M113s (armored personnel carriers) and nine additional shells as part of a new support program, bringing Portugal’s total mobilization to over 1,125 tons.
Portugal announced on Friday a new support package for Ukraine, with 13 armored personnel carriers and nine shells, making a total of 1,125 tons of equipment already sent, at a “critical and important moment” in the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The announcement was made by Defense Minister Helena Carreiras, speaking to Portuguese journalists in Brussels on the closing day of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ministerial meeting.
The minister said Portugal would “donate an additional 14 M113s, which are armored personnel carriers, and nine additional shells as part of a new support program”, following “the visit of [Ukrainian Foreign Affairs] Minister Dmytro Kuleba to Lisbon”.
“This is a new package that Portugal is making available to Ukraine, underlining what we have done and our ongoing support as far as we are able in this effort, which is now even more significant, given that we are at a critical and important moment linked to this counter-offensive that will take some time, but for which all the [NATO] Allies are mobilizing to support Ukraine in its effort to confront this illegal invasion by Russia”, Helena Carreiras stressed.
This support for Kiev aims to “create the conditions for a future of peace and negotiation”, he added.
According to the Defense Minister, “between these cars, armored vehicles and all the other equipment – and counting this latest package – this will already exceed the 1,125 tons of equipment” that Portugal has mobilized in Ukraine.
