Rumen Radev and Vladimir Putin
Moscow has praised what it describes as a shift in Bulgaria’s rhetoric toward Russia and the war in Ukraine since the government led by Prime Minister Rumen Radev took office, saying Sofia’s position has become more restrained and includes what it called “rational elements.”
The assessment came from Yuri Pilipson, director of the Second European Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, in an interview with TASS published on August 9. “After the new government headed by the country’s former president Radev came to power in Bulgaria, the rhetoric of official Sofia on the topic of Russia and the crisis around Ukraine has become more restrained, has acquired rational elements,” Pilipson said.
According to the Russian diplomat, Bulgarian officials are increasingly invoking the principle of national interests while calling on the European Union to reconsider its current approach to the war. He said Sofia has also warned against attempts to achieve a military victory over Russia and stressed the need to pursue diplomatic solutions.
Pilipson linked what Moscow sees as a change in tone to the Bulgarian government’s position on the so-called Coalition of the Willing, an informal group of countries supporting Ukraine and working on European security arrangements. The Russian official referred to the group as a “grouping of warmongers.”
