The republic’s president said on Friday that his visit to Kiev, Ukraine, would likely take place in the summer, pending the arrival of the new Ukrainian ambassador to Portugal, “maybe” in April, to prepare her.
“Maybe in April, not yet in March, and from then on it’s just a matter of starting preparations. It could have been last year, but it didn’t happen then, due to an international commitment (…) it will probably be in the summer”said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa before starting a dinner with Ukrainian refugees who are taking a cookery course, in collaboration with the Mezze Association, at the Hotel and Tourism School in Lisbon.
The head of state reiterated Portugal’s support for Ukraine, which this Friday ends a year of military conflict with Russia, particularly in the humanitarian, financial and military fields, and recalled the support already announced by the government.
“Maybe we can go even further in the future”in support of Ukraine, admitted that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had to refer to “another type of lethal means of intervention and ammunition”.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries – according to the most recent data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At the moment, at least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million people need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 8,006 civilian casualties and 13,287 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, exactly one year ago, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
