U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu spoke by phone about the incident with the downed U.S. drone in the Black Sea, Reuters and TASS reported. The conversation was held at the initiative of the United States. According to Sergei Shoigu “the flights of American strategic drones off the coast of Crimea are of a provocative nature, which creates prerequisites for an escalation of the situation in the Black Sea region”. For his part, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin emphasized that “the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows.” Lloyd Austin urged Moscow to operate its military aircraft “in a safe and professional manner”.

The Council of Ministers has not discussed a new treaty between Bulgaria and Ukraine on the provision of military assistance, the government press service said. “Allegations that a new military aid agreement with Ukraine is under preparations are manipulative”, caretaker Minister of Defense Dimitar Stoyanov said.

Bulgaria is interested in increasing the capacity of its defence industry and welcomes the EU's support, but is in no way committed to providing arms to Ukraine, the cabinet said in a statement with regard to the visit of the Commissioner for the Internal Market (Thierry Breton) to Bulgaria.