Defense Minister Helena Carreiras said Tuesday that Portugal will contribute “up to 20 soldiers” to the training missions of the European Union for Ukrainian troops.
“Portugal will participate with up to 20 soldiers, who will train Ukrainian soldiers,” the minister announced, detailing the areas that may have a national contribution, “namely, basic training, shooting training, medical area and demining.”
Helena Carreiras was speaking at the end of the meeting of the 27, which this afternoon received, by videoconference, the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov. During the video call, the ministers were surprised by the Russian bombardment of several Ukrainian cities.
“We were talking to the minister [Oleksii] Reznikov, in a session aimed at evaluating the situation in Russia and the way in which we have been supporting it and what are the challenges for the future, when that information actually arrives,” said the minister, who received the information through a statement. of the owner of the European Union. Diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
“Naturally, it was cause for apprehension, [pois] appear to be really serious bombings, perhaps one of the most serious since the beginning of the war”, said the minister, considering that the attitude of the European Union must be “not to underestimate what are the challenges and the capacity that Russia has “.
The minister admits that Russia “will precisely be seeking to strengthen and reorganize itself”, and this could be a phase of “regeneration of forces that must be known and continue supporting Ukraine”.
Stoltenberg warns of the danger of underestimating Russia
The meeting was attended by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who also defended the utmost care “not to underestimate Russia.”
“We all salute the progress that the Ukrainian forces have made in recent days, in particular with the liberation of Kherson. This is due to the bravery and courage of the Ukrainian forces,” Stoltenberg stressed.
“At the same time, I think it’s important that we don’t make the mistake of underestimating Russia,” he warned, noting that “Russia maintains significant military capabilities, [e] a large number of troops.
Stoltenberg stressed that the war in Ukraine proves that “Russia is willing to suffer great losses”, having been able to verify “the brutality exerted against civilians in the territories” liberated by Ukrainian troops after the Russian occupation.
“Therefore, we need to continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it is necessary, at the level of capabilities, but also through training,” stressed the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance.
Source: TSF
