Bulgaria has withdrawn from the Coalition of the Willing, according to Bloomberg on Tuesday.
The UK- and French-led Coalition of the Willing was formed to coordinate financial and military support for Ukraine. In its early stages, the coalition focused on potential troop deployments to postwar Ukraine as part of security guarantees. While some progress has been made on the plans, the initiatives have seen limited updates amid uncertainty over US backing.
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Bloomberg cited a statement from Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who, in a comment to reporters, framed backing for Ukraine as an escalation that prolongs Russia’s invasion.
“We’re not participating in a coalition that insists on continuing financial and military aid to Ukraine,” Radev said.
“The solution to this conflict is not in prolonging it by military means, but in a strong diplomatic mission that will finally put an end to the escalation,” he added.
The outlet noted that Sofia did not send a representative to the coalition’s meeting in Paris on Monday.
Sofia’s latest decision follows Radev’s election victory in April. He has repeatedly argued that the war cannot be resolved on the battlefield and has criticized continued European military support for Kyiv.
In June, Radev’s Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said that Sofia – which has been a major supplier of Soviet-standard artillery shells to Ukraine – plans to halt all weapon deliveries to Kyiv.
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Sofia also reportedly vetoed EU sanctions on Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, from the upcoming EU sanction list.
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