Zelenskyy meets Bulgarian PM; discusses energy & defence cooperation amid Russia war

Amid the relentless war with Russia, the Ukrainian President met the Bulgarian Prime Minister and discussed energy and defence cooperation. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he had "very substantive and warm talks" on these subjects with Bulgarian leader Kiril Petkov, who visited Kyiv on April 28. "Another issue we agreed on was the supply of Ukrainian electricity to Bulgaria and the joint use of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline to diversify energy supplies in the region," the Ukrainian President added, as per The Associated Press (AP). 

Earlier this month, Russia's energy giant, Gazprom, cut off natural gas supplies to two European Union countries - Poland and Bulgaria - after they declined to pay for the gas in Russian rubles. According to the company, unless Poland and Bulgaria pay in rubles, it will not renew its supply. The major outage is the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand that all "unfriendly" countries pay in rubles for their gas supplies. Despite the fact that Bulgaria receives almost 90% of its gas from Russia, the country is not immediately in jeopardy due to other prospective sources. The Trans-Balkan gas pipeline stretches from Greece to Ukraine, passing via Bulgaria and Romania.

Bulgaria & Romania to help Ukraine in identifying and prosecuting war criminals

Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Romania have agreed to aid in identifying and prosecuting those who have committed war crimes in the war-ravaged Ukraine. The two countries also vowed to help Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia achieve their European integration aspirations, Ukrinform reported. Additionally, Bulgarian Prime Minister Petkov and Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă have expressed "categorical" support for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia's EU membership bids. Notably, Bulgaria is yet to supply arms to Kyiv despite its condemnation of Russia's invasion and support for EU sanctions against Moscow.

Discussion underway on draft of possible treaty with Ukraine: Russian FM Lavrov

On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the delegations of Russia and Ukraine are discussing the draft of a possible treaty via videoconferencing on a daily basis. Lavrov hoped that the document should include Ukraine's permanent neutrality, non-nuclear, non-bloc, demilitarised status as well as security guarantees. He further stated that denazification, acknowledgement of new geopolitical realities, the relaxation of embargoes, the status of the Russian language, and other topics are also on the agenda for the talks.