Embassy of Ukraine issues sharp rebuke in response to a statement made by President of Bulgaria

The Embassy of Ukraine issued a sharp response to a statement by President Rumen Radev at a conference, entitled "Wars and Peace: Will Time of Diplomacy Come?", held in Sofia on November 20.

The dissatisfaction is over the analysis of the war that the Bulgarian Head of State made before diplomats at the conference today.

Bulgaria's President Radev: Diplomacy is the alternative to war

"The Embassy of Ukraine finds with great disappointment that this type of message does not support diplomacy, but rather serves the interests of the aggressor state. The military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine began almost 10 years ago, in February 2014. Today is the 635th day of Russia's full-scale war and Ukrainian citizens are heroically fighting against the aggressor and defending their freedom," the embassy said.

Addressing the conference "Wars and Peace: Will Time of Diplomacy Come?", President Rumen Radev said that a peaceful solution must be sought through diplomatic and political means to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Quoting Western politicians and military analysts, the Head of State pointed out that both sides in the conflict had made strategic mistakes. According to him, the right time for negotiations and seeking the rational formula for peace was before Ukraine's counter-offensive. The President said he had shared this with his counterpart Zelensky. He pointed out that the cost so far is about 100,000 Ukrainian casualties. Radev said it is difficult to resolve the conflict diplomatically at the moment because Russia is feeling a military upsurge and is rejecting the possibility of negotiations.

"We need to find such a bargaining chip that guarantees the security of both sides. We need to look for the answer for the foundations of a new security architecture, both European and global. We should accept that the time has indeed come to seek peace through diplomatic and political means. By no means does this mean retreat before the aggressor," the head of state said.