US-sanctioned Serbia official meets Putin, says Belgrade is an ally and won't join Western penalties
Serbia's deputy prime minister has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and vowed that his country will remain an ally of Moscow despite its proclaimed bid to join the European Union
Serbia is a Russian ally and will never impose sanctions against Moscow or join NATO, the Balkan nation’s deputy prime minister said Wednesday as he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The remarks by Aleksandar Vulin, a former intelligence chief who is under U.S. sanctions, reflect persistent close relations between Belgrade and Moscow despite Serbia’s proclaimed bid to join the European Union.
“It’s a great honor for me to have the privilege to talk to you,” Vulin told Putin. “Please believe me when I say it is a great encouragement for all Serbs, wherever they may live.”
Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine though it has condemned Moscow's aggression. Populist President Aleksandar Vučić has said that imposing the sanctions wasn't in Serbia’s national interest.
“Serbia is not only a strategic partner of Russia, Serbia is also Russia’s ally,” Vulin said. “This is why pressure on us by the West is huge.”
Vulin’s meeting with Putin in Russia’s far-eastern city of Vladivostok came just days after French President Emmanuel Macron visited Serbia when Belgrade signed an agreement to buy French Rafale fighter jets, a move that was seen as possible a shift away from Moscow. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier also visited Belgrade for the signing of a tentative EU deal with Serbia on raw materials needed in green transition.
The two met in Vladivostok on the sidelines of an economic forum designed to attract foreign investment and showcase Russia to them. Greeting Vulin as the two sat
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