The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, denies reports about the sale of military equipment to Ukraine.
“Serbia has never sold arms or ammunition to either Ukraine or Russia,” the Serbian president clarified, adding, however, that Serbian military material may have reached the battlefield via third countries.
Vucic’s statements were made on the occasion of the publication of a secret document leaked by the US Pentagon, which ranks Serbia among the countries that have either given their consent to send military equipment to Ukraine, or have already done so.
“Serbia has not and will not export weapons to Ukraine,” President Vucic told reporters, pointing out that the same applies to Russia, his country’s traditional ally. “There is no document to prove this,” he added.
The document obtained by Reuters, a summary of European governments’ responses to Ukraine’s requests for military training and weapons or ammunition, was among dozens of classified documents released online in recent weeks, in the most serious – in years – leakage of classified information of the US government, known as the Pentagon Leaks.
However, Reuters emphasized that it is unable to confirm the authenticity of the documents.
“Ammunition is used in wars to kill people”
Serbia “inherited” most of the former Yugoslavia’s military industries and has earned billions of dollars in arms exports. President Vucic said his country will continue to invest in its defense industry.
The Serbian president noted that he was “almost certain” that Serbian ammunition would appear “on one side or the other on the battlefield” in Ukraine, having earlier been exported to Turkey, Spain and the Czech Republic.
“They saw a shell (in Ukraine), a bullet. So what; Where else would they appear? There are several war zones around the world,” Vucic said. “Ammunition is used in wars to kill people,” he said.
The reports were denied, on Wednesday, by the Minister of Defense of Serbia, Milos Vucevic, and the head of the Serbian diplomacy, Ivica Dacic.
Entitled “Europe / Response to the Ongoing Russia-Ukraine Conflict,” the document says Serbia has refused to provide military training to members of the Ukrainian armed forces, but has pledged to send arms or ammunition and may have already done so.
The Vucic government has maintained a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, despite its historic ties to Moscow, while aiming for Serbia to join the European Union.
Although Belgrade has repeatedly condemned the Russian invasion at both the United Nations and other international forums, it has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow.
Source: FOR Media
