“We are at a critical moment”, admits defence minister
Portugal has pledged to contribute €100 million to the purchase of large calibre artillery ammunition for Ukraine, which “desperately needs it” to resist Russian aggression, defence minister Helena Carreiras has today.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Ms Carreiras detailed the decision by the Council of Ministers to support Ukraine through a joint procurement programme led by Czechia and joined by several European countries.
“The timing of this initiative has to do with the need of Ukraine, which desperately needs ammunition to continue its resistance against Russia’s illegal invasion,” she said.
The contribution is part of a “process of continued support for Ukraine”.
According to the minister who may well be out of a job by this time next week, it is not a question of supporting “an aggression with arms and ammunition”, but of “supporting the resistance to an aggression” that Russia is waging against Ukraine.
“It is not those who support self-defence, the defence of sovereignty and territorial integrity who fight, it is those who attack and invade,” she stressed.
According to the minister, this €100 million support, which aims to “quickly deliver 155mm ammunition to Ukraine”, complements humanitarian, financial and military efforts that have previously been made.
“Right now there is an imperative need to support Ukraine with ammunition, it is what they need most. There is also a growing European awareness that we are at a critical moment,” she said.
According to the minister, this initiative, was initially supported by the Netherlands and Denmark and has now been extended to “more than 15 countries”. It has been organised in such a way that makes it possible to “identify ammunition of this calibre in third country markets” since “there is a lack and shortage in Europe” of this ammunition.
“That’s what we’re acquiring at the moment, to deliver quickly to Ukraine: artillery ammunition to meet the needs that are currently being felt on the battlefield to resist Russian aggression,” she recapped.
The minister quoted NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg who told allies in Brussels yesterday “Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition”.
“We have to help Ukraine because it is about defending ourselves as well. Ukraine is fighting for the security of Europe as well – and it is in this sense that we can only strengthen our support and express solidarity with Ukraine,” she concluded.
Portugal’s new support comes at a time when French president Emmanuel Macron has been insisting again on the possibility of Western troops in Ukraine – a situation that up until now most countries, including Portugal, have been resisting.
Source material: LUSA
