site.btaBulgaria Is Ready to Contribute to Solution for Peace, Security in Ukraine - PM Zhelyazkov

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov Saturday said that Bulgaria is ready to contribute to a solution for peace and security in Ukraine, alongside this country's European and transatlantic partners. He was speaking during a virtual meeting with heads of State and Government, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, and NATO officials, the Government Information Service reported. The meeting, convened by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, aimed to further support Ukraine and explore steps toward ensuring a lasting and sustainable peace in the country.

"Europe must continue to plan in a collective and coordinated way its next steps to secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine," Zhelyazkov added.

Addressing the participants in the meeting, the Prime Minister said that Bulgaria welcomes the outcome of the Jeddah talks between the US and Ukraine, including the proposed ceasefire agreement and the resumption of intelligence sharing and US security assistance to Ukraine. Zhelyazkov added that Bulgaria is focused on aligning the growth of its defence sector with broader European defence initiatives so that it can better contribute to the security and strategic autonomy of Europe and NATO.

"Bulgaria’s position is that all security formats must keep the US. Europe Is weak without the US," Zhelyazkov said ahead of an extraordinary European Council meeting on security and the situation in Ukraine held in Brussels on March 6.

"It would take Europe a long time to achieve what our partnership with the US in NATO and bilaterally provides us. We hope the US remains committed to our collective security, which is based on shared values," the Prime Minister added.

On March 6, Zhelyazkov held a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where he was briefed on the talks the Ukrainian head of State had had so far. "We said that we support Ukraine because we believe that the principles of international law should be upheld and guaranteed to any country that has accepted the UN principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence. We would also add democracy, Zhelyazkov said.