The Bulgarian Armed Forces are due to take part in the Rapid Trident and Saber Guardian military exercises due in July in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry has said.

Neither of the drills is officially related to the Ukraine crisis, since they are held on an annual basis.

It is not yet clear now many troops will be sent to Ukraine, according to ministry officials quoted by Trud newspaper.

Sofia also deployed troops in Ukraine last year for the Rapid Trident exercise which was carried out near Yavoriv, some 60 km of Lviv which is near the Ukraine-Poland border. It included 1300 people from 15 countries, 200 of them from the US.

As for Saber Guardian, its 2014 edition was at the Novo Selo Range in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian soldiers will also participate in exercises scheduled in Albania, Georgia, and Germany.

This comes as Bulgaria is preparing for a year of intense drills, numbering 22, on its soil, some of them involving dozens of US troops and US Air Force units.

Meanwhile the Stars and Stripes media outlet reported Thursday that that the fate of US participation in some forthcoming exercises could be tied to the developments in Ukraine.

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