Bulgaria’s Premier Kiril Petkov met with United States Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington.

"We reaffirmed strong partnership between Bulgaria and the United States and discussed our commitment to diversify energy supply. I look forward to working closely together to further enhance the strategic partnership between Bulgaria and the United States in the interest of both countries", Kiril Petkov wrote on Facebook.

 During the talks in the White House, the two parties have negotiated deliveries of liquefied natural gas to Bulgaria at prices lower than Gazprom’s. Gas deliveries are to start in June, the government's press service announced.

Ukraine said it would suspend the flow of gas through a key transit point which it said delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine, blaming Moscow for the move and saying it would move the flows elsewhere. The Novopskov compressor station in the Luhansk region of Eastern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian forces and separatist fighters, Reuters reports.

In the past day, the Ukrainian forces have pushed back 12 Russian attacks in Donbass and continued their offensive north of Kharkiv. Russian forces from the Izyum area are reportedly redeploying northwards to attempt to alleviate the pressure of this counteroffensive, the US Institute for the Study of War said.