Kuleba meets with Bulgarian president who earlier called Crimea “Russian”
Evropeyska Pravda — Wednesday, 20 April 2022, 14:33
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has met with President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev as part of his visit to Sofia.
According to Evropeyska Pravda, Kuleba wrote of the meeting on Twitter.
"We discussed ways of renewing peace and development in the Black Sea region. We also agreed on the need to strengthen the supply chains for agricultural products to maintain global food security," said Kuleba.
Earlier, Minister Kuleba also met with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Cyril Petkov.
Background: Rumen Radev is known for his pro-Russian stance. During the debates ahead of the presidential elections held in the fall of 2021 (which Radev won), he stated that in his view, Crimea was Russian territory, and the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the EU were ineffective.
In connection with these statements, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called the Bulgarian Ambassador in Kyiv Kostadin Kodjabashev to express its protest.
After the incident, Radev repeated his words on the "Russian Crimea" admitting, however, that the annexation was in violation of international law.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called these statements by the Bulgarian President damaging for Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations.
Later, Radev’s press service clarified his position, noting that he recognised the Crimean Peninsula as being de jure part of Ukraine, but meant that de facto it was under Russia’s control.
