“These threats [from Russia and President Putin] do not frighten us or intimidate us. We decide our positions in consultation, either within the framework of the United Nations, or within the framework of the European Union and NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO], and we enforce those decisions that we make autonomously in the organisations to which we belong”, he said.

Russia has drawn up a list of "hostile" countries, including Portugal, as a member state of the European Union, along with the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, among others.

On the sanctions against Russia, following the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Santos Silva recalled that these were the ones that were approved, namely within the framework of the European Union (EU).

These sanctions, recalled the minister, were approved at three different times, constituting three different packages, being sanctions of a political nature, aimed at a group of Russian people, and others of an economic nature.

Faced with a possible cut in the supply of Russian gas and oil to Europe, Augusto Santos Silva recalled that for several years, Portugal, with its successive governments, has been doing its work “in order to make Portugal less and less dependent on fossil energy”.

“Right now, 60% of the electricity consumed in Portugal comes from locally produced renewable energy sources: hydro, wind and solar energy”, he continued.

Regarding gas and oil, the minister explained that Portugal imports them from “a diverse set of countries, located in the Americas, Africa and Europe”.

“As a result of this diversification policy, our current exposure to Russian oil and gas is very low,” he said.

And he added: “We have no direct consequences, we are not a country with great exposure to energy from Russia. We are part of a very dependent EU and, within the EU, we seek to assert the absolutely strategic importance of reducing Europe's dependence on Russia in terms of energy”.

In this area, the minister said that Portugal's strategy involves “diversifying the sources and routes of energy supply to Europe”, which “involves increasing interconnections between Portugal and Spain and between Portugal and Spain and the rest of Europe”.

“We currently need to increase the gas we receive from sources other than Russia. One of the two possible and feasible origins is the United States and African countries,” he said.

“The gas that comes by sea, in ships that dock in European ports, with the Iberian Peninsula having the most qualified to receive it, from deep waters (Sines). From Sines, gas can go by sea or by land. Overland needs a pipeline. At the moment there are two gas interconnections between Portugal and Spain and we want to build a third and we want there to be one more interconnection between Spain and France, so that the gas that arrives in Europe via the Iberian Peninsula can reach central and eastern Europe”, he said.

And he underlined: “In recent days it has become clear to many people that this is not about preparing for the future, it is about responding to our most immediate present”.