Russia and Serbia will continue to strengthen relations despite pressure from the West, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with RT, following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The phone call was made on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation by the Soviet Red Army in 1944.
President Vucic said the conversation with President Putin was "open, long and meaningful", covering a wide range of topics from bilateral relations between Russia and Serbia to the Ukraine crisis.
"We talked like old friends, it was a long personal conversation, about who is a weak leader and who is a strong leader," President Vucic said. He noted that although Serbia's position is "not simple", it will not change on cooperation with Russia and on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Belgrade's official stance on the conflict is neutral, but it maintains close economic ties with Moscow and has repeatedly refused to join the sanctions despite pressure from the United States and the European Union (EU).
"When 25 presidents and prime ministers turned to him and asked why he didn't impose sanctions, and he was the only one who objected, imagine the situation," President Vucic explained, stressing that Serbia "tried to protect its independence and sovereignty in making decisions."
The Serbian leader also noted that although he and President Putin "don't always think alike on everything," the Russian leader "understands Serbia's position better than anyone." Mr. Vucic said that President Putin said "what is good for Serbia is good for Russia" and expressed his agreement with that view.
President Vucic has often called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine. He recently suggested that the situation could end in a stalemate “like the Korean Peninsula scenario,” in which open hostilities would end but the parties would be unable to agree on a peaceful solution.
South Korea and North Korea ended the Korean War with an armistice in 1953, not a peace treaty, so the two Koreas are technically still at war.
President Vucic said he thanked President Putin for ensuring sufficient gas supplies to Serbia and said he looked forward to further strengthening Serbia-Russia relations.
Serbia applied to join the EU in 2009 and has been an EU candidate country since 2012. In the following years, the EU added conditions for Serbia to normalize relations with Kosovo by recognizing the independence of the breakaway province, while demanding that Serbia cut ties and impose sanctions on Russia.
The EU is making increasingly tough demands on Serbia and is not making any progress on its membership, Serbia will therefore explore the alternative of joining BRICS, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said.
