MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. Moscow considers Lisbon’s transfer of six Russian firefighting helicopters to Kiev to be a hostile move that will further exacerbate the crisis in Russian-Portuguese relations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
"We regard the fact of transfer of this aircraft to the Kiev regime as another hostile step against our country in line with the collective West’s criminal policy of waging a hybrid war on Russia and protracting the conflict in Ukraine," the diplomat said. "Regrettably, we have to state that such moves of Portugal show an almost total loss of independence in foreign policy and contribute to a deepening gap in Russian-Portuguese relations, which used to be founded on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests."
According to Zakharova, it is evident that in this way Lisbon "is seeking to faithfully demonstrate its allied zeal and obedient compliance with the trajectory imposed on the Europeans by their handlers from across the ocean."
"The Portuguese authorities’ political decision regarding the said helicopters was made public by Lisbon back in October 2022," she added.
Earlier, the Portuguese authorities announced that the process of transferring six Russian firefighting helicopters to Ukraine had been finalized.