Bulgaria’s Vice President Iliana Yotova on Sunday called for talks between Russia and Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, writes DPA. “More and more weapons lead to unpredictable decisions, and now the threat is real,” said an official from Sofia.

The situation is becoming “more and more dangerous and scary”, said Iliana Yotova, adding that for this reason Bulgarian President Rumen Radev is constantly asking for negotiations.

• “This is Bulgaria’s desire, because more and more weapons lead to unpredictable solutions, and now the threat is real.
• But I hope that reason will prevail in the end. And that in this case it is more about threats than about real actions,” said the vice-president of Bulgaria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that the Russian military’s tactical nuclear weapons will be stationed in Belarus, further escalating tensions between Moscow and the West.

When asked why he made such a decision now, the head of the Kremlin said that it was a response to Britain’s intention to supply Ukraine with armor-piercing projectiles with depleted uranium. He argued that Russia is not doing anything “unusual” because the United States has long since “placed” nuclear weapons in allied countries.

In addition, Putin has warned that Russia may also use depleted uranium projectiles in the war in Ukraine if the latter’s army receives such munitions. “We have, without exaggeration, hundreds of thousands of such projectiles, but they have not been used yet,” said the President of the Russian Federation.

This week, the British Ministry of Defense announced that 14 Challenger 2 tanks that the UK will provide to Ukraine to help in the war with Russia will be equipped with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium. Depleted uranium munitions, already used by the US in the wars in Iraq and during the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia in 1999, are used in anti-tank projectiles that are particularly effective in penetrating armor. (Source: Agerpres)