Bulgaria’s newly appointed government plans to halt weapons deliveries to Ukraine, potentially disrupting the flow of Soviet-caliber ammunition to Kyiv from one of the few remaining EU suppliers.
Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters in Sofia on Tuesday that his government believes further arms shipments would not help bring an end to the war.
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“Ukraine needs more people, not more armament,” Stoyanov said during a briefing in the Bulgarian capital, according to Bloomberg. He called for a “just peace” to be determined by both sides in the conflict.
The announcement aligns with the position of Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who took office in May after previously serving as Bulgaria’s president until January. Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria won by a landslide in April’s parliamentary elections.
Radev has repeatedly argued that the war cannot be resolved on the battlefield and has criticized European military support for Kyiv.
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on May 18, Radev warned that the prolonged conflict was exhausting both the countries directly involved and those supporting them.
Bulgaria is one of the EU’s largest producers of Soviet-standard ammunition, including artillery shells compatible with many of the systems still used by Ukrainian forces.
Although Sofia initially resisted direct military assistance after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Bulgarian-made ammunition reached Ukraine through exports to other European countries.
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Since then, Bulgaria has approved 13 military aid packages for Kyiv, though authorities have not publicly disclosed their value or contents.
In 2023, the owner of a Bulgarian arms maker accused Russian intelligence of assassination attempts and sabotaging his factories, including an explosion at a depot in June 2023.
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