Russia and Serbia will continue to strengthen relations despite pressure from the West - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with RT, after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The phone call was held on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's liberation of Belgrade from German occupation in 1944".
President Vucic said that the talks with President Putin took place "openly, longly and meaningfully", covering many 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 stance 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 the country 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 me and asked me why I didn't issue sanctions, I was the only one who objected here, just imagine the situation at that time," President Vucic explained, stressing that Serbia had "tried to protect its independence and sovereignty in making decisions."
The Serbian leader also noted that although he and President Putin "do not always think the same way about everything", the Russian leader "understands Serbia's stance better than anyone else". 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 often calls for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine. He has recently said that the situation could end in a "kmarsome" deadlock on the Korean Peninsula, with open hostilities ending but the parties unlikely to agree on a peaceful solution.
North and South Korea ended the North Korean war with an armed conflict in 2019, 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 wanted to further strengthen Serbia-Russia relations.
Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009 and has been an EU candidate country since 2012. In the following years, the EU added the condition to Serbia to normalize relations with Kosovo by recognizing the independence of the breakaway province, and asking Serbia to cut off relations and impose sanctions on Russia.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that the EU has made increasingly tough demands on Serbia and has not made any progress on membership. Therefore, Serbia will learn about the alternative of joining BRICS.
