Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov on Saturday said that his country will not be able to provide any kind do of military aid to war-torn Ukraine and ruled out any possibility of such assistance, but said that it will, however, continue to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine and its people.
“Being so close to the conflict, right now I have to say that currently, we will not be able to send military assistance to Ukraine. This will not be possible,” Petkov says today at a news conference in the Bulgarian capital in talks with visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, news agency AFP reported.
Speaking to reporters, the Prime Minister said his country will not engage in “hostilities” in Ukraine and that no arms would be supplied “at this time.”
"Bulgaria would not engage in the hostilities in Ukraine and no missiles would be supplied at this time, but strong support for Ukraine would continue," he said.
"We will send reinforced humanitarian aid, medicine, welcome the maximum number of refugees and strengthen the Eastern Flank together with Nato," Bulgarian newspaper the Sofia Globe quoted saying the Prime Minister.
Bulgaria is a NATO ally and has helped Ukrainian refugees to provide shelter in the country.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Bulgaria on Friday at the invitation of Bulgarian Minister of Defense Dragomir Zakov. Austin is on a two-day working visit to Bulgaria to discuss the prospects for the further development of bilateral cooperation with the Ministry of Defense.
During the visit, Austin held talks with his Bulgarian counterpart and the Prime Minister of the country during which he asked for Bulgarian military support for Ukraine to repel Russia's air assault.
(with sources inputs)
