Bulgarian government confirms Ukrainian President’s chief of staff had talks in Sofia with PM Radev
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov visited Sofia this week for talks with Prime Minister Roumen Radev, the Bulgarian government information service said on October 9.
The statement said that the visit was at Budanov’s request and was in complete confidentiality because of security measures, the statement said.
During his talks Radev with on October 8, Budanov shared Ukraine’s views on the possibilities for achieving a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine, the government information service said.
October 8 was the day after the Consultative Council on National Security met following the October 6 attacks on two vessels in Bulgaria’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone, leaving one vessel sunk with all hands lost and the other severely damaged, with the crew rescued.
Zelenskyy said on October 6: “We verified all the details with the Bulgarian side. Our Navy contacted its counterparts in Bulgaria, and it has been established that this was a combined Russian attack using maritime and aerial drones.”
But on October 7, Radev denied that the issue of the attacks on the ships had been discussed with Ukraine.
“My job is not to replicate Zelenskyy, but to establish the truth. At the Consultative Council on National Security, we received very clear reports from the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence, and the heads of the security services that there was no communication with the Ukrainian side to say what the drone was. What Zelenskyy said is his business,” Radev said.
On October 9, Bulgaria’s ministries of foreign affairs and of defence said that their respective ministers had not met Budanov.
Budanov’s stop in Sofia, which local media took place on October 7 and 8, came before his departture for the US at the head of a delegation that on October 9 and 10 to hold talks with US president Trump’s representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
(Photo of Budanov via his X account)
