site.btaPresidents of Bulgaria, Russia Exchange Congratulations on 25th Anniversary of Treaty on Friendly Relations and Cooperation

Sofia, August 4 (BTA) - Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Russian President Vladimir Putin have exchanged congratulatory messages on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Bulgaria-Russia Treaty on Friendly Relations and Cooperation, the Bulgarian Presidency's website said on Friday.

"Bulgarian-Russian relations have rich traditions, rest on stable contractual and legal foundations and are based on the cultural, historic and human closeness and friendly relations between our peoples," President Radev wrote.

"I am convinced that the enduring respect for the Treaty's provisions is a stable foundation for the upward development of Bulgarian-Russian relations in the conditions of new geopolitical and economic challenges, for the sake of peace and prosperity in Europe and around the world," Radev also wrote to Putin.

Radev re-extended an invitation to President Putin to visit Bulgaria in 2018 for observances of the 140th anniversary of Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule.

In a letter to the Bulgarian head of state, Russian President Putin praised the Treaty's contribution to increasing bilateral trade and investments and boosting energy, science, technology and humanitarian interaction. At the same time, the Russian leader said that bilateral relations still had a huge potential.