Lisbon, Dec. 10, 2025 (Lusa) - The Russian embassy in Lisbon justified its decision on Tuesday to terminate a military agreement signed between the two countries in 2000 with Portugal's support for the "European Union's hybrid war" against Moscow.

"It was Portugal that initiated the process of severing ties by unconditionally supporting the EU's hybrid war against our country," said Aleksei Chekmarev, press attaché at the Russian Embassy in Portugal, in statements to the Lusa news agency.

The representative explained that Moscow had recently announced its decision to terminate a 2000 military cooperation agreement with Portugal, while also revoking defence agreements with France and Canada.

The decision was formalised through a decree issued by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Friday, quoted by the official Russian news agency TASS.

The agreement in question aimed to "promote cooperation between the parties in the military field to deepen mutual trust and international security", in particular through the exchange of views and information on political-military issues, and through consultations on legal issues related to military service and training within each country's establishments.

According to the Russian embassy, there is no bilateral agreement in force at this time.

"The hostile actions of the Portuguese authorities have paralysed the entire system of our relations and also affected their legal framework," the Russian official stressed.

"None of the bilateral documents are now in force. Some have been denounced by the Russian side, others by the Portuguese side, such as the protocol of cooperation and friendship between the city of Moscow and the city of Lisbon, which had been in force since 1997," he said.

Aleksei Chekmarev was referring to a protocol whose termination was approved by the Lisbon Municipal Assembly in February last year, demanding the withdrawal of the Russian Federation's army from Ukrainian territory.

The decision to terminate the military cooperation agreement "is not of a circumstantial nature and was not motivated by recent events," said the press attaché, claiming that it was an "evolution" of bilateral relations in recent years.

Russia "reserves the right to determine the measures to be taken depending on the hostile policy of the Portuguese authorities," said the diplomat, stressing that "Russian-Portuguese relations are at their lowest level in contemporary history."

This week, Portugal supported a plan presented by the European Commission to channel revenues from the approximately €235 billion in Russian assets frozen in the EU to Kyiv.

On Friday, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechayev warned that using Russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe to finance Ukraine would have "considerable consequences" and considered that "any transaction with Russia's sovereign assets without the country's consent is theft."

Ukraine has been relying on financial and military aid from its Western allies since Russia invaded the country on 24 February 2022.

Kyiv's allies have also imposed sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy in an attempt to reduce Moscow's ability to finance the war effort in Ukraine.

The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory has plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II.

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