EuropeJune 9, 2026 3:45 pm • 2 min readBulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev speaks to the media following talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery on May 18, 2026, in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)The new Bulgarian government, led by Russian-friendly Prime Minister Rumen Radev, does not plan to continue sending arms to Ukraine, a Bulgarian minister announced on June 9."It is time to sit at the negotiating table, it is time to seek a just peace, which will be determined by both sides," Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said at a press conference, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported.The shift comes after Radev — a former president and a long-time critic of military aid to Kyiv — won the parliamentary elections on April 19.According to Stoyanov, the Russia-Ukraine war has turned into a positional war, and providing additional arms will only lead to additional loss of life without changing the battlefield situation.Bulgaria, a Balkan member of NATO and the EU, has provided 13 military aid packages to Ukraine since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Boasting large-scale stocks of Soviet-era weaponry, Sofia played a key — albeit initially secret — role in supporting Ukraine's military in the early stages of the war.The news comes as Ukraine and its European partners outline new initiatives for a peaceful resolution of the war — an effort that has met a cold reception in Moscow.