President Aleksandar Vucic is facing “unprecedented” pressure from the West, Dmitry Peskov has said
Moscow is fully aware of the immense pressure the West is placing on Serbia in an attempt to push Belgrade into antagonizing Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said. His remarks followed Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s recent expression of willingness to sell weapons to EU member states – even if they eventually end up in Ukraine.
Serbia, which applied to join the EU in 2009 and received candidate status in 2012, is one of the few European countries that has refused to impose sanctions on Russia, citing its historically close ties with Moscow.
Peskov stated on Tuesday that Russia “understands what unprecedented pressure is being put on Serbia.” He described the issue of Serbian arms exports as “not at all a simple story.”
In an interview with Germany’s Cicero magazine last Thursday, Vucic said that Serbia’s “warehouses are full of ammunition, and we are producing more.”
“So I offered our friends in the EU to conclude a purchase agreement with us and take everything we have,” the Serbian president revealed, adding that he had not yet received a response from the bloc. Asked whether he was concerned the weaponry could end up in Ukraine, he replied that “the buyers can do with it what they want.”
Earlier this year, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) stated that Serbian defense firms had been increasing indirect arms shipments to Ukraine via EU member states such as the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. In response, Vucic announced that Belgrade had suspended ammunition exports and would now require special permissions for such shipments.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen demanded last month that Serbia to show a “greater level of alignment” with EU positions, including sanctions. Vucic, however, has repeatedly insisted that Serbia would never join EU sanctions on Russia.
Meanwhile, Serbia has been shaken by a wave of violent anti-government protests over the past year, which Belgrade alleges are being fueled by Western influence. Russia’s SVR also accused Brussels of attempting to stage a Ukraine-style “Maidan coup” in Serbia by “brainwashing” Serbian youth.
