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

Amid  relentless war with Russia, Ukrainian President met Bulgarian Prime Minister and discussed energy and defence cooperation. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he h "very substantive and warm talks" on se subjects with Bulgarian leer Kiril Petkov, who visited Kyiv on April 28. "Anor issue we agreed on was supply of Ukrainian electricity to Bulgaria and joint use of Trans-Balkan gas pipeline to diversify energy supplies in region," Ukrainian President ded, as per 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 y declined to pay for gas in Russian rubles. According to company, unless Poland and Bulgaria pay in rubles, it will not renew its supply. major outage is result of Russian President Vlimir Putin's demand that all "unfriendly" countries pay in rubles for ir gas supplies. Despite fact that Bulgaria receives almost 90% of its gas from Russia, country is not immediately in jeopardy due to or prospective sources. 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 war-ravaged Ukraine. two countries also vowed to help Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia achieve ir European integration aspirations, Ukrinform reported. ditionally, 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, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that delegations of Russia and Ukraine are discussing draft of a possible treaty via videoconferencing on a daily basis. Lavrov hoped that document should include Ukraine's permanent neutrality, non-nuclear, non-bloc, demilitarised status as well as security guarantees. He furr stated that denazification, acknowledgement of new geopolitical realities, relaxation of embargoes, status of Russian language, and or topics are also on agenda for talks.