Ivica Dacic stressed that “the Republic of Serbia adheres to its policy of military neutrality and complies with the conclusions of the National Security Council of February last year”
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic dismissed as groundless allegations that Serbia is making deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, the Balkan country’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
“Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic refutes the allegation about deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine published by the British Reuters news agency and reproduced by some Serbian media outlets. Minister Dacic has stated that Serbia respects domestic and international legal instruments and does not supply arms and military equipment to any state if this could lead to or prolong armed conflicts, or endanger peace and security in the region or its own defense interests,” the foreign ministry stated.
Belgrade’s top diplomat stressed that, “The Republic of Serbia adheres to its policy of military neutrality and complies with the conclusions of the National Security Council of February last year.” He emphasized that since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, “no weapons have been exported from Serbia to either side <…>.” Dacic further clarified that, “Serbian export licenses for arms and military equipment are issued only to buyers with an end-user certificate, which states, among other things, that the end-user cannot resell weapons without the consent of the competent authorities of Serbia.”
Serbia has not sold and will not ever sell weapons to either Kiev or Moscow, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said earlier. A similar statement was made on March 5 by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who said that Serbia was not supplying weapons to either Russia or Ukraine.
The Reuters news agency reported, citing leaked classified Pentagon documents, that the Serbian government had not ruled out providing lethal weapons to the Ukrainian army. According to the leaked document, the Serbian authorities “declined to provide training to Ukrainian forces, but had committed to sending lethal aid or had supplied it already.”
It also said that “Serbia had the political will and military ability to provide weapons to Ukraine in the future.” That said, the news agency stressed that it could not verify the document’s authenticity.
Source: Tass
