President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes that Portugal will be able to take the necessary decisions to strengthen the abilities of Ukrainian defenders on the front line.

He said this during a meeting in Kyiv on Tuesday with Portuguese Parliament Speaker Augusto Santos Silva.

"We discussed cooperation on the path of Ukraine's integration into the European Union and NATO, the priority needs of Ukrainian defenders. The start of EU accession negotiations by the end of this year will be a powerful incentive for Ukrainian society and Ukrainian defenders, who have been deterring the aggressor for more than 14 months. We hope that the Portuguese government and parliament will be able to take the necessary decisions to strengthen the abilities of Ukrainian defenders on the front line," Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram channel.

"Thanks to the Portuguese parliament and government for supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, as well as to the Portuguese society, which, thanks to the actions of the government and parliament, was united in supporting our country and people. This is a very important signal of faith in Ukraine," Zelenskyy also wrote.