Zelenskyy aide: Ukraine grateful to Bulgaria for active participation in Peace Formula

Ukraine is grateful to Bulgaria for its active participation in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula, Igor Zhovkva, Zelenskyy’s chief aide on foreign policy, told Bulgarian National Television’s The World and Us programme in an interview.

“We appreciate all the efforts that Bulgaria is making to help with security in this part of the world,” Zhovka said in the interview, conducted in the run-up to the second anniversary of Russia’s February 24 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“We also highly appreciate Bulgaria’s active efforts to create a de-mining coalition,” he said, referring to the joint operation in the Black Sea by Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye.

“We must not forget that in 2014 the Russian aggression against Ukraine started precisely from the Black Sea. They started with the attempt to annex the Crimean peninsula,” Zhovka said.

Crimea had been turned from a resort into a military base, and “we don’t know exactly what weapons are there”.

“And that’s worrisome, not only for Ukraine, because it is our territory, but also for all the countries of the Black Sea region.

“So once again, we welcome all the efforts that Bulgaria, as well as other countries of the region, are making.”

Zhovka said that Ukraine was actively working on its Peace Formula and would not accept Russian conditions, he said.

Ukraine’s ultimate goal was to defeat Russia on the battlefield and take back all the territories that Russia began to seize since 2014.

Russia was really proud that it had managed to capture a “small vilage” like Avdeevka a few days ago, but this effort had been going on for 10 years “and if this is a big victory for Russia, they are downright pathetic,” Zhovka said.

He said that Ukraine had managed to liberate more than half of the territory that Russia had captured.

“Obviously, we will continue and strive to achieve more, provided that we receive enough equipment, enough weapons and ammunition from our allies, from our friends, from our partners in the international coalition of civilized nations. And we certainly rely on Bulgaria in this regard,” he said.

(Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine)

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