site.btaUPDATED Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Arrives In Sofia For One-Day Visit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Sofia on Thursday for a one-day visit, the government information service said. 

Zelenskyy will hold talks with Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and will also meet with the floor leaders of the parliamentary groups that submitted the draft declaration in support of Ukraine's accession to NATO. 

A joint declaration on Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration and a memorandum on energy cooperation is expected to be signed on Thursday. 

Later in the day, PM Nikolay Denkov and Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel will host a discussion with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ambassadors, politicians and civil society representatives. The event will be streamed live on the Council of Ministers' Facebook page.

Recently there were talks about a hearing of Zelenskyy in the Bulgarian Parliament as early as in the spring of 2022. On March 23, 2022 in the registry of the 47th National Assembly, the MPs from Democratic Bulgaria (DB) Vladislav Panev and Zornitsa Stratieva submitted a draft decision for hearing Zelenskyy in the plenary hall. They pointed out that this would contribute to clarifying the circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the military conflict and the course of the negotiations. In their view, the hearing would also be useful for forming the opinion of each MP on the question of what assistance the Bulgarian state should provide to Ukraine, beyond that which the state and thousands of volunteers are providing to Ukrainian citizens. But the hearing did not take place. 

During the first sitting of the 48th National Assembly on 19 October 2022, GERB-UDF proposed a live video address to the MPs by the Ukrainian President. However, the initiative did not meet the support of all political formations.

As the war in Ukraine was developing, discussions among Bulgarian politicians and society as to the amount and concrete dimensions of Bulgarian aid for Ukraine unfolded with various and differing opinions being brought forward.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Zelenskyy has visited 13 states so far. Among them were the USA, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Moldova.

Upon his arrival at Sofia Airport, Zelenskyy was welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel.