Serbia by no means bought weapons or ammunition to Ukraine or Russia, though Serbian arms may need reached the battlefield through third nations, President Aleksandar Vucic stated on Thursday.
He spoke a day after Reuters reported that in keeping with a labeled Pentagon doc, Belgrade had agreed to produce arms to Kyiv, which is preventing a Russian invasion, or despatched them already.
“Serbia has not and will not export weapons to Ukraine,” Vucic instructed reporters, including that it equally “has not and will not” export arms or ammunition to Russia, its conventional ally.
“There’s no document that can prove that,” he stated.
The doc seen by Reuters, a abstract of European governmental responses to Ukraine’s requests for navy coaching and “lethal aid” or weapons, was amongst dozens of labeled paperwork posted on-line in current weeks in what may very well be probably the most severe leak of U.S. secrets and techniques in years.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the paperwork’ authenticity.
Serbia inherited a lot of the former Yugoslavia’s navy industrial amenities and has made billions of {dollars} from weapons exports. Vucic stated the Balkan nation would proceed to put money into its defence amenities.
He additional stated he was “quite certain” that Serbian ammunition would seem “on one side or the other in the battlefield” in Ukraine, after having been exported to Turkey, Spain or the Czech Republic.
“They saw one shell (in Ukraine), one bullet. So what, and where else would they appear? There are several war zones around the world.” “Ammunition is used in wars for killing people,” Vucic stated.
On Wednesday, Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic additionally dismissed the contents of the leaked intelligence as unfaithful.
Entitled “Europe|Response to Ongoing Russia-Ukraine Conflict,” the Pentagon doc confirmed Serbia declined to supply coaching to Ukrainian forces, however had dedicated to sending deadly support or had provided it already.
It additionally stated Serbia had the political will and navy potential to supply weapons to Ukraine sooner or later.
Vucic’s authorities has professed neutrality within the Ukraine struggle and has lengthy tried to stability traditionally shut relations with Moscow with its objective of becoming a member of the European Union.
Although Serbia has repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion on the United Nations and different worldwide boards, it has up to now refused to hitch Western sanctions towards Moscow.
Belgrade additionally recognises Ukraine as an impartial state in its entirety, whereas Kyiv refuses to recognise the independence of Kosovo, Serbia’s former, predominantly ethnic Albanian southern province.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
