Bulgaria: Red lines controlling war in Ukraine have now been crossed
4 Min Read
His remarks come against the backdrop of the decision to allow an attack with Western weapons deep inside Russia.
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Bulgarian President Rumen Radev speaks at an event in support of tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050 during the COP28 UN Climate Summit, Saturday, December 2, 2023, in Dubai, UAE. (AP)
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev believes that the red lines, which have kept the war in Ukraine from spiraling out of control, have now been crossed, as cited by the Bulgarian National Television website.
"Until now, there were two red lines that restrained the uncontrolled escalation of this war. The first one is limiting the geographical scope of the war to the territory of Ukraine only and the second one is preventing a direct clash between NATO troops and those of Russia," Radev said.
"With the decision to allow an attack with Western weapons deep inside Russia and the formalisation of sending advisers and trainers to the very front line, these red lines have already been breached and, unfortunately, our politicians are becoming part of such inadequate decisions with all the political consequences," he added.
Regarding NATO and the deployment situation, Radev called the alliance "cowardly Euro-Atlanticists" who are too immature to make their own decisions and resort to exploiting Bulgarian troops and others to cover up their mistakes.
Read next: Ukraine, NATO pressuring US to allow missile strikes on Russia
"Our self-proclaimed Euro-Atlanticists are cowardly and incapable of making such a decision on their own, and they know that they will be ostracised and kicked out of society, just as they were when they tried to cancel 3 March as a national holiday [Bulgarian Liberation Day]."
"Otherwise, if left to them, they would gladly send all Bulgarians to fight in Ukraine, to cover up their false Euro-Atlantic facade. Because they are very far from the Euro-Atlantic values," he said.
In February, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that "there is no consensus today to send ground troops... but nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war."
Macron's statements created a tug-of-war game within NATO with Macron on one end and the rest of the alliance on the other as they all opposed sending NATO troops to fight against Russia - that has changed, however.
The United States has lifted restrictions on Ukraine's use of US-supplied weapons against targets in Russian territory. However, officials claim that Biden made the move "only to defend the under-fire" Kharkov region against Russian forces.
Biden is fully aware of the potential consequences of his decision to partially lift the ban on strikes by Ukrainian armed forces inside Russian territory with US-supplied weapons, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby stated on Sunday.
"The president looked at that, talked to the interagency team, made sure he understood all the ramifications of the request, and then approved it. It is limited to the Kharkiv region," Kirby told ABC News.
The State Department clarified that the US has not authorized the use of long-range missiles, including ATACMS, inside Russia.
The Netherlands, for instance, has avoided making announcements on allowing Ukraine to use its F-16s. Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot confirmed slightly that the Dutch government would "allow Ukraine to use arms on Russian soil if it's in full self-defence," allegedly conforming with the United Nations charter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously issued a stark warning about "serious consequences" if Western countries enable Ukraine to strike within Russian territory.
"These representatives of NATO countries, especially in Europe, especially in small countries, they should be aware of what they are playing with. They should remember that this is usually a state with a small territory and a very dense population. This is a factor they should keep in mind before striking deep into Russian territory," Putin said during a press conference following his visit to Uzbekistan.
Read more: NATO monitors joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises
