Bulgaria stands to receive about €500 million (£415 million) from its military support to Ukraine over the past three years.

“By helping Ukraine, we are actually helping ourselves,” Atanas Zapryanov, the defence minister, said.

Sofia benefited from about €300 million in compensation from the United States and the European Commission for sending Soviet-era military hardware to Kyiv.

It also received €174 million from Denmark as part of two contracts to support Ukraine’s military in its struggle against the Russian invasion.

Eastern European countries with arsenals of Soviet-era weapons became crucial in the West’s military support for Ukraine.