Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Portugal on Tuesday and met with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The head of the Ukrainian government was in Lisbon for just six hours, but it was enough to require a reinforced security apparatus, especially in the areas of the São Bento Palace and the Belém Palace, the venues of the aforementioned meetings, in Lisbon.

It was around 2:50 p.m. when Zelensky landed at Figo Maduro military airport, where Montenegro and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa were waiting for him, who greeted him effusively, as has happened in the past with other foreign leaders visiting Portugal.

There, surrounded by many members of the security forces, they sang the national anthem in a brief ceremony, which was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, and the Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo.

Then, the Ukrainian president headed to São Bento, where he took part in a meeting with Montenegro, Rangel and Melo, where Portugal pledged to help Kyiv with at least 126 million euros in military support, in an agreement that will run for ten years.

"We are committed to contributing to the reconstruction of Ukraine. We are facing a fight that, while taking place in Ukraine, is a fight for all of us: it is the fight for freedom, democracy and a clear rejection of the use of force, or the use of the law of the strongest to resolve international disputes," the prime minister told reporters after the meeting.

At the same press conference, Zelensky, in turn, described the cooperation and security agreement signed between Portugal and Ukraine as "a strategic partnership, which talks about reconstruction, about humanitarian aid, about medicine, about rehabilitation".

For the head of the Ukrainian government, it is crucial that "the world does not get tired", with regard to Ukraine. "Otherwise, there will be no justice and the world will be governed by people like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, which would be madness," he commented.

After São Bento, Belém

After the brief meeting at the São Bento Palace, where the presence of the Ukrainian president did not go unnoticed by those passing by, Zelensky headed to Belém. At the official residence of the President of the Republic, he met with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who will lead the Portuguese national delegation at the Peace Summit, to be held in June in Switzerland.

The President of the Republic received Zelensky with military honors, while more than fifty Ukrainians demonstrated in support of the president of Ukraine. After the meeting, Zelensky headed back to Figo Maduro, leaving Portugal at 9:02 p.m., just six hours after arriving in Lisbon, with yet another security agreement signed with partners in Europe.

Lisbon was, in fact, the last stop on Zelensky's most recent European 'tour', dedicated to promoting the Peace Summit, which takes place on June 15 and 16, and which has been confirmed by several countries, but not by the United States. Russia, in turn, was left off the guest list.

Before the trip to Portugal, the president of Ukraine had been in Brussels, Belgium, where he secured the delivery of 30 F-16 aircraft to Kyiv, and in Madrid, Spain, where he signed an agreement to deliver military aid, valued at 1.129 billion euros.

Leia Também: Zelensky terminou em Lisboa périplo focado em ajuda e Cimeira de Paz (Portuguese version)