Bulgaria to hold talks with Romania and Türkiye on safe navigation

Prime Minister Rumen Radev met with Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova at the Council of Ministers following drone attacks on merchant ships near Bulgarian waters. He stressed that attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea are absolutely unacceptable and lead to a significant escalation of the conflict. Bulgaria will continue investigating the attacks together with its EU and NATO allies to establish the truth.

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During the meeting, Rumen Radev said he had no conclusive evidence regarding the origin of the drones used in the attacks. However, he argued that it made no sense for Ukraine to destroy its own ships, while the results of these strikes benefit Russia. Ambassador Mitrofanova replied that she understood this reasoning but had no information from Russia’s Ministry of Defence regarding the latest attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea. She also did not rule out the possibility that the attacks were a provocation by a third party, the government press service reported.

During the talks, Prime Minister Radev also stressed that Bulgaria would initiate talks with Romania and Türkiye to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, BTA reported.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov