Portugal’s Pushes Plan to Make Russia Pay for War Damage & Inflation

Foreign residents in Portugal woke up this week to familiar headlines: Lisbon is once again pressing for Russia to face legal and financial consequences for the devastation it unleashed in Ukraine. The message, repeated by Prime-Minister António Costa during a parliamentary debate, crystallises a stance that has barely wavered since the first Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian border in February 2022.

Why it matters even if you are sipping coffee in Lisbon

Living in Portugal hardly insulates anyone from the after-shocks of a war two-thousand kilometres away. Energy bills, food prices and even airline routes have been reshuffled by the conflict, and the Portuguese government argues that only genuine accountability can stabilise markets—and, by extension, everyday life for residents and newcomers alike. Officials insist that lingering impunity would prolong uncertainty, keeping inflationary pressure on staples from electricity to bread.

Portugal’s three-track playbook: sanctions, courts and cash

The government’s strategy combines tough European Union sanctions, courtroom action and direct financial aid. Portugal has endorsed every EU sanctions package so far, from banking restrictions to technology export bans. Simultaneously, Lisbon channels part of its annual budget—more than €220 million in both 2024 and 2025—into Ukraine’s military, humanitarian and reconstruction needs. That figure includes a ten-year security pact signed in 2024, under which Portugal supplies drones, artillery shells and specialist training to Ukrainian forces.

Counting the cost—and who should pay

Reconstruction experts led by the World Bank place the bill for rebuilding Ukraine at around US $486 billion over the next decade. Costa argues that Moscow, not European taxpayers, should shoulder a substantial share. Portugal therefore backs an EU plan to redirect profits from roughly €210 billion in frozen Russian assets to a new compensation fund. The idea, popular among Portuguese voters according to recent polls, still faces resistance from a handful of EU capitals worried about legal challenges.

Inside the courtroom maze: ICC and a special tribunal

At the legal level, Lisbon lends technical and political weight to two overlapping efforts. First, the International Criminal Court already has warrants out for several Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, on charges linked to forced deportations of Ukrainian children. Second, Portugal belongs to the so-called “Core Group” drafting a special tribunal for the crime of aggression, a gap the ICC cannot currently fill because Russia never ratified the Rome Statute. Diplomatic sources say the Council of Europe could green-light the court’s statutes before the end of 2025, with trials beginning as early as 2026.

Military lifts and humanitarian bridges

Since 2022, Portugal has moved more than 1,000 tonnes of hardware—ranging from armoured vehicles to night-vision scopes—onto Ukrainian soil. Beyond the battlefield, Lisbon channels funds into programmes such as “Grain from Ukraine,” designed to keep Black Sea exports flowing to African markets. Domestically, the government extended temporary protection permits for over 60,000 Ukrainian refugees until March 2025, providing free access to the national health service, schools and language classes.

Political unity at home, diplomatic frost with Moscow

From the conservative opposition to left-of-centre parties, Portuguese lawmakers largely speak with one voice on Ukraine, an alignment that Russian diplomats have described as “hostile.” Bilateral trade has shrunk to its lowest level in decades, and Moscow recently suspended consultations with Portuguese counterparts. Costa counters that Portugal’s “hostility” is aimed not at the Russian people but at “a regime that violates the UN Charter.”

What happens next

European leaders meet later this summer to iron out legal details on a frozen-assets fund, and Lisbon’s diplomats are expected to argue for swift implementation. The government hopes a clear path toward reparations will deter future aggressions, lower global energy volatility and accelerate Ukraine’s EU accession talks. For the international community—and for anyone recalculating their cost of living in Portugal—that sequence could prove decisive in turning the page on a conflict now well into its fourth year.