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Die Welt: Bulgaria "secretly" saved Ukraine at the beginning of the war

Kiril Petkov with Dmitro Kuleba
Photo: BGNES-archive

Sofia has supplied Kyiv with fuel and vital Soviet-era weapons, but had to keep the supplies secret because of pro-Moscow politicians in the government. In the spring of 2022, the Ukrainian army was desperately short of fuel and Soviet ammunition to fight the Russians. Salvation came unexpectedly from Bulgaria, politico.eu and die WELT from the Axel Springer media group report, citing interviews with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and Finance Minister Asen Vasilev. According to them, in the first days of the war, about 40% of the fuel for Ukraine and about 1/3 of the used shells came from Bulgaria. The supplies of ammunition for about 2 billion euros were paid by the USA and Great Britain.

After sending more than 150,000 shells from its stocks to Europe, the Pentagon is sending shells from its military warehouses in Israel and South Korea to Ukraine, the New York Times reports. Both countries have agreed to this until US military production increases. Ukraine uses about 90,000 shells per month, which is twice as much as produced in Europe and the US, the publication claims.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced in a meeting with President Joe Biden that he would follow Germany and the US and deliver a Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine.

Antony Blinken with James Cleverly

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at a meeting in Washington with British Foreign Minister James Cleverly, defined as unacceptable Moscow's claims that Kyiv accept the "new territorial realities" and give up the territories occupied by the Russian aggressors. At a general press conference, Blinken added that the allies would provide everything Ukraine needed to counter Russian aggression.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that it expected Russian leader Vladimir Putin on January 18, in his speech on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), to officially declare war on Ukraine and military mobilization.

Putin has already asked the State Duma to suspend the Council of Europe's statutes, European conventions on combating terrorism and protecting human rights in Russia.



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