A submersible from the European Maritime Safety Agency has asked Bulgaria for permission to inspect the sunken cargo ship Alfa Watan, President Iliana Iotova said. Bulgaria will send a diplomatic note over the attacks on the two ships in the Black Sea only once it is proved who carried them out, she added.

Inspections so far have found no drone debris that could identify the attacker. There is still no expert conclusion that firmly confirms any version of events.

On 6 October, the cargo ships Alfa Watan and Able were hit in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, about 70 nautical miles from the coast. Alfa Watan sank. Its crew's fate is unknown after the rescue operation was called off.

Able caught fire. All 18 crew members were rescued, and the two injured received medical care in Varna.

The institutions represented on the Consultative Council for National Security called the attacks a breach of international law. Participants decided unanimously that Bulgaria will not push to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Iotova said the reason is where the attacks happened: outside territorial waters, though inside the exclusive economic zone.

Russia is to blame for the strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The Russian embassy in Sofia denied that Russia was involved. Russia is the country that launched a full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.

There is still no final proof of where the drones came from, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.

Iotova said diplomatic steps depend on the results of the investigation and on information from international partners. In her view, security decisions must be agreed with allies and rest on established facts.

The president called for active consultations with Romania and Turkey on the safety of sea routes. As possible steps, she named more monitoring, better coordination between national services and specific measures in the EU's Black Sea strategy. Iotova linked the security of sea corridors to international grain shipments.

She called for talks to limit military action in the region, including a separate agreement on safe shipping. Iotova described three diplomatic scenarios for ending the war. Russia began the war against Ukraine in February 2022. The first scenario is a series of limited deals, such as halting strikes on energy sites and protecting shipping. The second is a wider truce after a European proposal, agreed with Kyiv and presented to Moscow. The third is a full peace agreement.

Iotova said the EU must take part in the talks with its own proposals, and not just rely on the initiatives of other countries and organisations.

On 9 October, Burgas maritime expert Doychin Doychev said Alfa Watan was carrying about 3,000 tonnes of salt, not weapons. He said the salt was loaded at the Egyptian port of El Arish.

Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova said that if Russian guilt is proved, Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova will be summoned.