The meeting between Prime Minister Rumen Radev and the Chief of Staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – Kyrylo Budanov, was so secret that neither the services nor the president knew about it. This was stated by GERB leader Boyko Borisov during a meeting with farmers in Silistra, broadcast live on Facebook.
„A meeting so secret that no one knows about it – neither the services nor the president“, Borisov said. He also asked "what does it mean to lie to pro-Russian people that you have nothing to do with Ukraine," then added that it should be presented as how people who were not informed care about national security.
His comment comes after Budanov's visit to Sofia, which became public after the leader of "Republicans for Bulgaria" Tsvetan Tsvetanov published a photo with the Ukrainian representative. According to NOVA, Budanov stayed in Bulgaria for about 20 hours before leaving for the United States.
Prime Minister confirms meeting
The Council of Ministers announced that the visit was at Budanov's request and was conducted in strict confidentiality for security reasons. Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed that he had spoken with him on October 8. According to him, the Ukrainian representative presented the views of the Ukrainian side on the possibilities for achieving a peaceful resolution to the war.
This means that Borisov's claim about the lack of information should be distinguished from the confirmed fact of a meeting between Budanov and the prime minister. In his statement, the GERB leader did not specify whether by “the president“ he meant the head of state, Iliana Yotova.
The presidential institution told the Bulgarian National Radio that no one from it had met with Budanov. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had not been notified of the visit and that the foreign minister had not met with the Ukrainian representative. The same position was expressed by the Ministry of Defense.
Political reactions
The visit also provoked reactions from other political forces. The leaders of “Vazrazhdane“ and MRF Delyan Peevski stated that they do not have official information about the visit and demanded that the government provide explanations.
Borisov also criticized the meeting of the National Security Advisory Council, describing it as “shame“, with insufficient preparation and lack of information. From the publicly confirmed data so far, it is clear that Budanov met with the prime minister, while the presidential institution, the foreign and military ministries deny having had meetings with him.
Sources: nova.bg, faktor.bg, paragrafa.com