"We cannot rule out a clash between NATO and Russia in the Black Sea, but we seek to avoid escalation. However, this depends on Russia's actions. Russia constantly provokes NATO, including by expanding the zone in which it exercises control", Bulgaria's Defense Minister Todor Tagarev told Nova TV today.

On the occasion of the warning shot by Russia and the search of a ship near the Bulgarian economic zone in the Black Sea, the minister expressed the opinion that it is still safer to pass through the territorial waters of Bulgaria and Romania than through Turkey.

Tagarev pointed out that when the war will end depends on Ukraine, and the main condition for this is to regain control over all its territories. He does not take seriously former US President Donald Trump's claims that he can stop the war in 24 hours

The Minister of Defense once again emphasized that Bulgaria has no choice but to maintain the available MiG-29 fighters, while "we can fully fulfill the missions of protecting our airspace with the ordered F-16s".

Tagarev also commented on the detention of Bulgarians in Great Britain for espionage. "The arrest is from February. In order for there to be an exchange of information, there has to be trust between the services. Unfortunately, this trust is not always there, even though we are allies with Britain in NATO. In our case, we have done a lot to build trust with our allies", he explained.

The minister also paid attention to the actions of the British services - arrest, accusation and scheduling of a case. He compared those actions to those in Bulgaria in a similar case - release and the opportunity to travel abroad.

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