July 7 (SeeNews) - The military aid which Bulgaria has pledged to Ukraine will not include anti-aircraft missile systems, such as the Soviet-made C-300, Bulgarian prime minister Nikolay Denkov said on Friday.
During a one-day visit by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Sofia on Thursday Bulgaria and Ukraine agreed to strengthen their cooperation in defence.
The provision of military equipment to Ukraine will not jeopardise Bulgaria's defence capabilities, Denkov said told parliament as quoted in a government press release.
He declined to provide further details on the specific type of military aid to be sent.
"We will first assess what is needed to ensure the combat readiness of the Bulgarian army," Denkov said, adding that the expiry date of the ammunition to be sent to Ukraine too will be checked.
Sending combat personnel, including doctors and nurses, to Ukraine has not been discussed, but Ukrainian doctors and nurses will receive training in Bulgaria, Denkov added.
On Thursday, the Bulgarian parliament adopted a decision to accelerate the process of replacing the country's existing weapons, ammunition and explosives stocks, manufactured between the 1970s and 1990s and earlier, with new ones. According to a parliamentary press release, the lawmakers authorised the government to renegotiate the terms and quantities in its existing contract with local state-owned arms manufacturer VMZ-Sopot, if it has the relevant production capabilities.