Portugal will provide financial assistance to Ukraine

This became known at a joint briefing of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As Zelensky noted, this is the first visit of the Prime Minister of Portugal to Ukraine since independence. He also pointed out the importance of the visit on Europe Day which Ukraine celebrates on Saturday, May 21.

The talks with Costa were quite fruitful, the President of Ukraine stressed.

"I appreciate the readiness to provide financial assistance to our country. Relevant agreements on Portugal’s provision of financial assistance will be formalized today at the governmental level," the President said.

In addition, leaders discussed the issues of providing further security assistance, as well as bringing Russian war criminals to justice. Zelensky noted that the Portuguese Prime Minister visited Irpin in Kyiv region to see the consequences of the invaders' actions.

According to the Head of State, further sanctions pressure on Russia was discussed, including the imposition of embargo on Russian oil within the sixth round of European sanctions.

In addition, Zelensky said that the issue of Ukraine's European integration was touched upon. The President stated that majority of Portuguese citizens – 87% – supported Ukraine's membership in the EU. Zelensky expressed hope that Portugal would vote for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership at the European Council meeting in June

During the meeting, the involvement of Portugal in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine was also discussed, the President said.

As reported, Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa is on a working visit to Kyiv on May 21.

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