Prime minister Rumen Radev told parliament that he and Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian president's office, also discussed the reactors for the Belene nuclear plant when they met in Sofia.

This story follows our earlier report on the five steps Democratic Bulgaria asked the government to take after the new drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea.

Ukraine still wants to buy the reactors, Radev said. He wants them installed at Belene jointly with Ukraine, with help from the EU and the US. He gave president Zelensky the same answer.

Radev said Ukraine has the technology and is taking the proposal very seriously. "Because at Belene we can guarantee security and safe operation of this nuclear plant," he said. The talks are being held discreetly, and Budanov will put the proposal to the American side.

Radev did not announce the meeting in advance because Budanov expressly asked him not to, for security reasons.

The hearing covered what has been done, the risk assessment and the steps planned after the attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea on 6 and 13 October. It also covered information about the deliberate burning of antennas for the Starlink satellite system.

Radev said he asked Budanov whose drones, in his view, hit ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. He expects the Ukrainian official to give the same answer as Mitrofanova, who represents Russia, the state that began the full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.

"We have two warring sides and each side denies it, it has always been like that," the prime minister said. The fact is that Russia began the full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.