SOFIA: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for support Thursday in Bulgaria, a major arms maker and ally, and was then heading to the Czech Republic as Kyiv pushes to join NATO.
In his one-day Sofia visit, Zelensky held talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, as well as meeting with President Rumen Radev, other government officials and parliamentarians.
"The main focus of our talks is, of course, the security of our countries and our entire Europe, defense support and defense cooperation. The fundamental priority is energy. And strengthening our unity in Europe," he said on Telegram.
Later Thursday, Zelensky was on his way to Prague to meet Czech counterpart Petr Pavel and other officials for "substantive negotiations", he said.
He will also travel to Turkey on Friday for the first time since Russia's invasion for talks with counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Now is time to provide 'all weapons' needed for defence: Zelensky
While Zelensky was in Sofia, Bulgaria and Ukraine signed a joint declaration on the Euro-Atlantic integration of the war-torn country and a memorandum of cooperation in the field of energy.
"We are grateful for the support provided by Bulgaria... Every state has the right to defend itself, to protect its children," Zelensky told reporters.
His visit comes as Bulgaria was preparing to approve sending military aid directly to Ukraine, reversing its former practice of delivering arms to Kyiv via third countries.
Zelensky told reporters that slow weapons deliveries to Ukraine delayed Kyiv's planned counteroffensive, allowing Russia to bolster its defences in occupied areas.
Kremlin criticism
The Kremlin on Thursday criticised Zelensky's visit to NATO member Bulgaria, saying the Ukrainian leader was trying to "drag" other countries into the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.
"Many countries have already plunged headlong into this conflict, both directly and indirectly. This topic will be discussed with the Bulgarians," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Bulgaria -- an EU and NATO member but historically and culturally close to Moscow -- has been deeply divided over the issue of sending arms to Kyiv.
Yet Bulgaria's munitions factories have been running at full capacity since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Last year, exports from Bulgaria's booming arms industry were worth an estimated $4.3 billion -- triple the previous record set in 2017.
Until now, third countries acted as intermediaries to deliver weapons to Ukraine, a solution found at the start of the war by then-prime minister Kiril Petkov.
"Almost everything we received in the early days of the conflict came from our Bulgarian partners," Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak recently said on Bulgarian television NOVA.
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