A meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Teodora Genchovska, and the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Eleonora Mitrofanova, was held today, July 1, 2022, before noon, at the insistence of Russia. During the talks, Minister Genchovska stated Bulgaria's position, asking Russian ambassador to withdraw its note verbale of 30 June 2022.

The Prime Minister, the Acting Speaker of the National Assembly and the Presidential Administration will be informed about the meeting.

There has been no official reaction from Moscow on the note of the Russian ambassador in Bulgaria yet, as well as on the statement of Ambassador Mitrofanova that she will propose to the Russian Foreign Ministry to close the Russian embassy in Bulgaria because of the refusal of outgoing Prime Minister Kirill Petkov to cancel the expulsion of Russian diplomats.

According to the Russian ambassador, the closure of the Russian diplomatic mission will inevitably lead to the closure of the Bulgarian mission in Moscow. Petkov urged Russian authorities not to comply with Mitrofanova's request and the BSP proposed that the National Assembly obligate the prime minister to temporarily suspend the decision to expel Russian diplomats and the government to restore dialogue with Russia./BGNES