"Bulgaria remains fully committed to the strong and united response of NATO, the EU and the international democratic community to Russian military aggression against Ukraine". This was written by acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev on the Facebook page of the Council of Ministers.
Glavchev took part in the two-day first summit for peace in Ukraine in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock, which started yesterday, at which world leaders discussed the creation of a clear framework for ending the war, providing security guarantees, determining conditions for post-war settlement, reconciliation of the conditions for financing the reconstruction of Ukraine, BNR recalls.
Over 90 countries and world institutions attend the event. This is the biggest meeting for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Russia was not invited, and China, a key Russian ally, did not attend, so expectations for significant progress at this stage are low.
Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have already expressed regret that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited to participate in the forum, and Swiss President Viola Amherd called on the international community to prepare the ground for direct talks between the two belligerents.
The leaders of Italy and Germany have flatly rejected the terms of a ceasefire put forward by Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the Russian president's plan "propaganda" which effectively suggests that Ukraine "must withdraw from Ukraine". German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed it as a "dictatorship peace".
Freezing the conflict in Ukraine is not an answer, but a recipe for future wars of aggression, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized.
US Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged more than $1.5 billion in aid to Ukraine, mainly for humanitarian aid and support for the energy sector. She also rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's terms for peace talks with Ukraine, calling them "absurd".
On Friday, the Russian president demanded that Ukraine completely relinquish the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhia and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea as a condition for an end to hostilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized:
"We must stop this war based on the observance of international law enshrined in the UN Charter, the just interests of the Ukrainian people, as well as the idea of the indisputable value of human life, not war.
The draft declaration of the meeting reaffirms the territorial integrity of Ukraine and unequivocally rejects any nuclear threat against the country. The document will be officially adopted today.