Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has responded to a statement by the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Belgrade, who has urged Serbia to take a clearer position on developments in Ukraine.
Feb 22, 2022
MONACO – Responding to a statement by the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Belgrade, who has urged Serbia to take a clearer position on developments in Ukraine, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday said he would accept the ambassador’s plea for Serbia to condemn a Russian aggression on Ukraine if the diplomat called on Ukraine’s president to condemn the 1999 Western aggression on Serbia.
Speaking to reporters in Monaco, Vucic said that, like Russia, Ukraine supported the integrity of Serbia, and added that Serbia respected Ukraine’s integrity and that there had been no changes in that regard.
“However, he wants us to clearly condemn a Russian aggression and so on… I have a simple answer to that. We are a small country and we do not want to abolish the possibility of continuing our friendships with some countries. We are not the ones to decide on the fate of Ukraine… I urge him to call on his President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy to condemn the horrible and tragic aggression on Serbia committed by the US, the UK and other countries,” Vucic said.
“As soon as he does that, I will be happy to heed (Ambassador Oleksander)Alexadrovich’s call and answer his pleas,” Vucic said, noting that Serbia’s positions are clear.
“We are hoping for peace and good relations with everyone. We are too small to threaten anyone. And we are the only ones to adhere to international law in a very principled manner, which is clear to everyone. Hence the fears over Kosovo-Metohija and everything else,” Vucic said.
Vucic reiterated Serbia would react as soon as Ukraine condemned the aggression on Serbia, which he noted had been committed by the countries that were now helping Ukraine and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people in Serbia.
“But such a reaction is not going to happen because their (Ukrainian) interests lie in the West and are completely different from ours,” he said.
“Our policy is to proceed towards the EU but without eroding our relationships with Russia and China – that policy has endured tough challenges and I am confident that it will also endure those that are still ahead of us,” Vucic said.
Published at www.tanjug.rs
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