site.btaDefence Minister: Main Purpose of Visit to Odesa Was to Follow Up on Bilateral Talks

Visiting Odesa on August 21, Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev told BTA that the main purpose of his trip was to follow up on the bilateral talks with the Ukrainian partners. During his visit, Tagarev met with Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov and with representatives of the Bulgarian community in Ukraine.

The Defence Minister also told BTA that the visit was part of a series of intense meetings, talks and discussions on "the problems and the support that Bulgaria can offer Ukraine in these difficult times".

"In the longer term, this meeting is important for improving further our cooperation in defence, the defence indistry and technological development, and for learning lessons from the war and using them in practice so that we can be sure that our armed forces are developing the right way, learning from the experience that the Ukrainian armed forces is gaining with blood," said Tagarev.

The Defence Minister thanked the Bulgarian Consul General in Odesa, Svetoslav Ivanov, for arranging the meeting with the Bulgarian community. "First, it was a good opportunity to brief the Bulgarians here with what the regular government in Bulgaria is doing, with the support of the parties in Parliament, to back Ukraine. Second, it was good to hear the problems that this community faces and for which it relies on the Bulgarian State," Tagarev said.