site.btaForeign Ministry Confirms that Ukraine Has Requested Weapons from Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it had received a note from the Ukrainian Ambassador in Sofia Vitaly Moskalenko, requesting Bulgaria to provide heavy weapons to his country, the Ministry said in a press release. 

The note will be forwarded to the competent authorities in Bulgaria, said the Foreign Ministry. 

Meanwhile, Economy and Industry Minister Korneliya Ninova said, quoted by her Ministry, that "there is no need for the Foreign Ministry to forward the Ukrainian Ambassador's note to the Economy and Industry Ministry". "The National Assembly has resolved that Bulgaria is not going to export weapons to Ukraine. The case is closed," Ninova said.

In an exclusive bTV interview on Monday morning, Moskalenko said that on Friday he had sent an official note to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry requesting weapons that Bulgaria can provide to Ukraine. 

Moskalenko said he sent the note on Friday and it is too soon to have an answer. "We need Soviet-made old weapon systems that we can handle," the diplomat said in the TV broadcast. He specified that the request was for some 150 multiple launch rocket systems, 140 heavy howitzers, and as many 120 mm mortars.

The Ambassador said he will send similar letters to other institutions, including the Bulgarian Defence Ministry.

He confirmed that 80 Ukrainian tanks will be repaired in Bulgaria.