Portugal’s Prime Minister Tours Irpin, Meets Zelensky in Kyiv

Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Costa was welcomed in Kyiv by President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, May 21, after surveying ruins in the suburb of Irpin alongside Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal earlier in the day. Costa said he reaffirmed his country’s support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion, and that Portugal would continue to provide humanitarian, financial and military assistance. “We are all moved by the European choice made by Ukraine and its people and we welcome it with open arms. It is fundamental to accelerate Ukraine’s political and economic convergence with the EU,” Costa said in a statement following the meeting. “We also had the opportunity to discuss the immediate needs of Ukraine already looking into the reconstruction effort. The scale of the challenge ahead of us shows that we need to create a very significant European financial instrument and bring other international donors on board,” he wrote. Zelensky thanked Costa for Portugal’s support for Ukraine’s accession into the European Union, its readiness to provide financial assistance, and for welcoming Ukrainians forcibly displaced by the war, according to a statement from the president’s office. On Twitter, Costa posted photos showing his tour of Irpin, describing it as a visit he would “never forget.” “The levels of destruction and violence are completely devastating,” Costa tweeted Costa and Shmyhal also signed a memorandum confirming that Portugal would provide €250 million in financial support to Ukraine. Credit: Republica Portuguesa via Storyful

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