Defence Minister Stoyanov: Bulgaria will not provide any more weapons to Ukraine

Bulgaria will not send any more weapons to Ukraine, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told a news conference on June 9.

“The war in Ukraine will not be resolved on the battlefield,” Stoyanov said.

“We see a positional war and no matter how much armament is accumulated, the only thing that is achieved is the loss of human lives,” he said.

According to Stoyanov “it is time to sit down at the negotiating table. It is time to seek a just peace, which just peace must be determined by the two parties involved in the conflict”.

He said that “of course, the role of the European Union is extremely important”.

“It would be difficult to assign this role to that of a mediator for the simple reason that the European Union has also assisted Ukraine in its efforts in this war anyway.”

“Ukraine needs more people, not more weapons. It has enough weapons, so we do not envisage providing more weapons to the Ukrainian army,” Stoyanov said.

Stoyanov is part of a government headed by Prime Minister Roumen Radev, who in office in the past month has said little about Ukraine, following Radev’s track record when president of opposing military-technical aid for Ukraine and calling for a “diplomatic solution”.

On May 18 2026, speaking after meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Radev spoke on the topic only after being asked by a reporter about it.

“It is high time for diplomacy, because this prolonged war is exhausting all parties involved and supporting it,” Radev said, asked about possible negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.

As The Sofia Globe reported previously, annual reports posted by the UN Register of Conventional Arms show the extent to which Bulgaria has exported weaponry to Ukraine since Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of that country began in February 2022.

(Photo of Stoyanov: Ministry of Defence)