Madrid, 28 May 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Portugal pledged €126 million ($136 million) in military aid to Ukraine this year as Kiev seeks to fend off the Russian invasion, as part of a bilateral co-operation and security deal signed on Tuesday.

The agreement, made as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Lisbon, runs for ten years but Portugal will support Ukraine "for as long as necessary," Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said at a joint press conference.

Zelensky signed similar agreements with Spain on Monday and with Belgium on Tuesday, though the previous ones came with a greater amount of support.

His moves to establish bilateral security agreements are based on an initiative of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democratic countries.

They agreed that individual states should conclude bilateral agreements with Ukraine in order to guarantee its security in the long term, on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania last year.

He started with Britain, Germany and France at the start of the year.

Zelensky called the agreements signed this week with the three EU countries "very important," saying these were "not just about money."

"These ten-year agreements do not mean that the war will go on for another 10 years. They are strategic agreements that include the modernization and reconstruction of Ukraine as well as humanitarian aid," Zelensky said.

Currently, Kiev primarily needs help with its air defence, meaning missiles, drones and information systems. Ukraine needs this "like water in the desert," he said.

His visits to Spain, Belgium and Portugal had originally been planned for the middle of the month. However, Zelensky cancelled all foreign trips at short notice a fortnight ago due to Russia's offensive in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.

Photo: EPA