The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said during a trip to Bulgaria that Sofia had agreed to cooperate more actively in the defense sector, as Kiev seeks to obtain support among NATO members for its ongoing counteroffensive.
“We discuss the military assistance that Bulgaria brings to our country,” said Zelensky during a joint press conference with the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Nikolai Denkov. “Contamos con una cooperation continua que ya ha salvado muchas vidas”
Bulgaria has a large reserve of weapons from the Soviet era and its manufacturing base is linked to the systems used in Ukraine in a relatively fluid manner.
But the shipments of arms from the eastern country of the EU have been slow and have been carried out mainly through intermediaries, partly because the Bulgarian president insisted that Sofia refrain from arming Kiev.
Sin embargo, un nuevo gobierno pro occidental en Bulgaria, que asumió el poder en mayo, prometió acelerar los envíos y eliminar a los intermediarios.
On Thursday, the Bulgarian parliament approved a plan to accelerate the replacement of the state’s arms and ammunition stocks, paving the way for the shipment of large quantities of weapons to Ukraine.
El partido de extrema derecha proruso Ennahdha en Bulgaria described the visit as provocative. The Kremlin also defended its point of view, saying that Zelensky’s visit showed that Kiev was doing everything possible to drag the largest number of countries into the conflict.
Los Politicos Bulgaros visit Kiev Durante El anno pasado, pero esta fue la primera visita de Zelensky a Bulgaria desde la invasión a gran escala de Moscú.
The Turkish state media reported that the Ukrainian leader is expected to travel to Turkey on Friday to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the black sea grain agreement expires.
El acuerdo del mar negro, Ukrainian exporter of grains a pesar del bloqueo ruso, expirará el 17 de julio. Turkey, un Aliado de la Otan, desempeñó un papel importante en la negociación del acuerdo.
Información adicional de Adam Samson and Ankara
