Ukraine officially requests Bulgaria to supply arms

Ukraine has sent a formal note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria asking to provide weapons that should help in the fight against Russian aggression.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Vitaliy Moskalenko said this on bTV.

The Ambassador added that he had sent the note last Friday, but Kyiv has not yet received a reply.

“I sent a note on Friday. It’s impossible to get an answer in such a short period of time, but I will send similar appeals to other relevant institutions, such as the Defence Ministry,” the Ambassador said.

“We need weapons, howitzers and Soviet-era missile systems in particular,” Moskalenko said.

Later, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had received a note from the Ukrainian Ambassador. They also confirmed that they would hand it over to relevant authorities.

Ambassador Moskalenko revealed that 80 Ukrainian tanks will be repaired in Bulgaria.

At the end of April, it was announced that equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be repaired at Bulgarian facilities.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that an agreement had been reached between the parties on the repair of Ukrainian military equipment in Bulgaria. He stated this following the meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov in Kyiv.

In early May, the Bulgarian Parliament voted to mandate the government to provide assistance to Ukraine.

According to the resolution Bulgaria will:

• continue to support Ukraine’s EU membership aspiration;
• provide assistance to Ukrainian people fleeing the war;
• assist the export of Ukrainian grain via the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Varna;
• generally strengthen energy cooperation, supplying electricity and natural gas in particular;
• repair Ukrainian military equipment in Bulgarian military-industrial plants;
• continue providing humanitarian aid, especially medicine, clothing, and food.

The resolution does not mention provision of weapons to Ukraine.