Government ‘concerned’ over Moscow’s ‘new stance’ on using nuclear weapons

Portugal’s assistant secretary of state for defence, Álvaro Castelo Branco, acknowledged concern today at the decision by Russian president Vladimir Putin to extend the possibilities for using nuclear weapons, in response to Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles aimed into Russian territory. He told reporters: “We are concerned at the moment about all of Vladimir Putin’s attitudes (…), he has shown that he is not interested in negotiating peace”. That said, Portugal’s decision to invest 2% of its GDP in defence by 2029 is maintained.