That’s what he said on the show “Bulgaria, Europe and the world in focus” on Radio “Focus” Prof. Velizar Shalamanov, former Minister of Defense.
“First, what Bulgaria can provide as aid to Ukraine is to be implemented as quickly as possible with the relevant mechanisms for financial compensation under the European Union, where possible, and at the same time to look for support packages for Ukraine , which are related to the priorities of the operations of the Ukrainian army, but together with this, the addition of our defense capability through the time of deployment of multinational forces, including air defense systems – the areas in which we have certain deficits and of which we are actually bringing out systems, albeit old ones, in order to help Ukraine. I want to point out that Bulgaria still has a lot to do in terms of sanctions against Russia.”
Shalamanov noted that for the past two years and several months, US aid to Ukraine will exceed 100 billion dollars: “Which means that we must monitor aid from other countries, and that aid should not be much less than what gives the US, as well as the overall coordination, which although in the form of “Ramstein” tied to NATO, has so far been carried out mainly by the US, to happen further with a much greater participation of NATO, even more so that consultations are held for an additional fund of 100 billion – this will require much more coordination. When modern systems are accumulated, the effect of their use depends on their integration, on the training of personnel, on providing them with ammunition and, accordingly, on the enhanced sharing of information. We are entering a very decisive stage, and this stage, in my opinion, has the possibility, in the consolidation of aid, in the strengthening of aid to Ukraine, to lead to decisions on the Russian side that can avoid further escalation.”
Velizar Shalamanov described the situation on the front in Ukraine as follows: “As was mentioned by the Ukrainian military distribution, the situation is not favorable, because the shortage of ammunition, the shortage of long-range means, of air defense means allows the numerical superiority of the Russians, superiority even in artillery to We see that there are no breakthroughs on the front so far, but there are very heavy strikes on Odessa, on other cities, on power plants, which will actually be improved with the arrival of anti-aircraft systems and long-range weapons a way to reduce this confrontation is by isolating the area of hostilities with long-range means, by blocking the possibility of launching airstrikes with impunity, and if that is not enough, to have enough artillery and armored vehicles so that it is carried out breakthrough, intersecting blows in several places. And we hope that this will lead to a rethinking of the situation in Russia. But we should not allow an information campaign other than Russia to distort the information, because this will only lead to more victims on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides.”
When asked whether Russian forces might increase their attack on the front before the arrival of new American aid, the former defense minister replied: “It is precisely because of this risk that it is important that the aid arrives as soon as possible (note line the US $61 billion aid to Ukraine). Also important are the communications themselves, which should have a deterrent effect on Russian aggression, especially when it comes to what are essentially terrorist attacks on infrastructure in the free part of Ukraine. But we can hardly influence the Russian side, except with timely decisions and well-communicated steps to help Ukraine. And it is important that this is done not only and primarily by the USA, but by all countries that have declared political support for Ukraine. This alone would lead to changes in Russian intentions, in Russia’s actions. And if indeed the West’s sole, expanding, increasing aid to Ukraine brings about an end to this aggression at last, that will be the best possible outcome without using all this weaponry.”
