Portugal's Seguro and Zelensky discuss drone production; Portugal to host 2030 summit

A meeting on the sidelines of the summit

President António José Seguro met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Madrid on Thursday, 5 November, on the sidelines of the 30th Ibero-American Summit, which ended that day in the Spanish capital. The Portuguese Presidency said Zelensky asked for the meeting, and no journalists attended. Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel also took part, Portuguese official sources said.

According to the Portuguese note, Zelensky thanked Portugal for its consistent support since the start of the war and asked that it continue at political, military and financial levels. Seguro assured him of continued support and said he expected peace talks, which are to resume soon, to end the war on a just basis that respects international law and Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Drones, arms and energy

Zelensky wrote on X that the two leaders discussed how Portugal could support Ukraine's energy system and help protect lives there, as well as possible joint arms production. Presidency sources said they also spoke about defence solutions and drone production. At a press conference in Madrid, Seguro said one of the points on the table was building a drone factory jointly in Portugal, a project the competent bodies, the government in particular, would now take forward.

Zelensky also thanked Seguro for his condolences over a Russian strike on Komyshuvakha, which he described as hitting an ordinary school where people were receiving humanitarian aid. He said the search and rescue operation there was in its fourth day. Observador described the target as a humanitarian facility in the same area.

Portugal to host the 2030 summit

Seguro announced at the closing press conference that Portugal will organise and host the 32nd Ibero-American Summit in 2030.

“The availability we expressed on behalf of the Portuguese State to host this conference in 2030 has been realised and is now guaranteed.”

The next summit will be held in Honduras in 2028, according to the reports. Seguro said Portugal has been represented at the highest level at every edition since the first conference in 1991, with both the president and the prime minister attending.

Attendance and absences

The summit brings together 22 countries: three European members (Portugal, Spain and Andorra) and 19 Latin American ones. Heads of state or government from Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic attended alongside Portugal and Spain. Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum, the presidents of the two most populous member states, were absent.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro was not at the closing press conference because he had to return to Lisbon earlier to meet party leaders on the housing crisis. Seguro said the two had agreed on this arrangement and that the reason was more than plausible.

Closing remarks on polarisation

In his closing speech, Seguro described an international climate that is polarised and marked by conflicts whose impact no region of the world is immune to.

“The progress and development of our countries gain nothing from dynamics of conflict and confrontation.”

He stressed the ties across the Atlantic and said the participating countries had reaffirmed their commitment to continue political dialogue within the Ibero-American Community.