Portugal came out in support of Ukraine's NATO membership on July 8 in a joint statement with Kyiv following a phone conversation between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
Portugal stated that it will "continue to support Ukraine on its path towards future membership and advocates for Ukraine to become a member of NATO when the appropriate conditions for this appear."
Portugal has previously supplied military hardware to Ukraine, including three German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
Both countries stated that they will seek to resolve the issue of membership, as well as military support to Ukraine, at the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11.
Zelensky called Costa during his visit to Turkey, another alliance member, following visits to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The president is trying to coordinate with NATO members that support Ukraine's accession.
They discussed the implementation of three of Ukraine's peace formula proposals, namely food and energy security and the recognition of Russia's "ecocide."
Zelensky said they also talked about Ukraine's future EU membership, saying he hopes to start those discussions by the end of the year.
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