site.btaForeign Minister Calls for Broad International Efforts to Stop War in Ukraine

Addressing the Second Summit of the Crimea Platform initiated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, Bulgarian caretaker Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov expressed Bulgaria’s support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and waters. He also called for broad international efforts to put an end to the war so as to open the path to peace under conditions acceptable to Ukraine and the path to the country’s recovery, Deputy Foreign Minister Kostadin Kodzhabashev told a briefing on Thursday. 

During the Second Summit, Minister Milkov also stressed Bulgaria’s decisiveness to continue providing consistent and targeted support in areas where this country’s help is effective, Kodzhabashev said. 

The Deputy Foreign Minister recalled that Bulgaria currently provides practical help by giving protection to over 127,000 Ukrainian refugees, over 85,000 of whom have chosen to stay here. Bulgaria also supports the EU’s Solidarity Lanes initiative aimed at easing the export of Ukrainian grain. This country has also committed to repair and maintain Ukrainian military equipment in Bulgarian ordnance plants. Bulgarian contributes to NATO’s Medical Rehabilitation Trust Fund, which aims to provide wounded Ukrainian service persons with access to medical care and rehabilitation and support Ukraine in the teaching of medical specialists, Kodzhabashev said, adding that thus far 197 Ukrainian service persons have received rehabilitation and care at Sofia’s Military Medical Academy. 

Kodzhabashev also said that the countries participating in the Second Summit of the Crimea Platform adopted a joint statement condemning the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. Fifty-one countries, including Ukraine, and seven international organizations took part in the Summit.