In early January, Bulgarian Minister of Defense Stefan Yanev responded to a parliamentary question on the deployment of additional military units in Bulgarian territory that Bulgaria opposes "escalation of military measures before all other diplomatic means are used" and that Bulgaria had as of yet "no national position" on the situation.[129] In December, Yanev's perceived dismissal and "snub" to the idea of increased NATO troops had caused agreement and some condemnation within parliament.[130] On January 20, Bulgaria began receiving new deployments of aircraft, ships and NATO forces from Spain.[131] As of January 21, Bulgaria's prior stance that it was not interested in any immediate new submarine purchases was reported to have "shifted", with the Bulgarian government now in negotiations to purchase two new submarines, with Yanev remarking that "the Bulgarian army must retain readiness... to react to the development of a negative scenario in relation to Ukraine and Russia", while continuing to reiterate his earlier calls for de-escalation.[132] The same day, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kiril Petkov condemned the Russian call for Bulgaria to leave NATO and for NATO troops to be withdrawn from Bulgaria and Romania, while President Roumen Radev called the statement "unacceptable".[133]