Serbia not to impose sanctions on Russia: President Vucic

BELGRADE, Serbia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday reiterated that his country will not impose sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine war.

“Serbia could change its position on imposing sanctions on Russia only if, the sword of Damocles literally hangs over it. Right now, that is not the case,” Vucic told the media in Paris following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

He said that Belgrade has endured 270 days of the “most difficult pressures” in modern Serbian history since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

“No one knows better than I because no one has such direct contacts in Europe and the world as I do. I know best how far we can go,” he added.

Vucic canceled his trip to Egypt and Qatar to attend the Paris Peace Forum this Friday and Saturday.

The Serbian president is also expected to hold meetings with EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak, the bloc's special representative for Western Balkans.

The main objective of the talks is the tensions with Kosovo recently ignited over a longstanding row on license plates.

Serbia is the only country in Europe that did not impose sanctions against Russia.

In the Western Balkans, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania have joined the EU and US in sanctioning Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Serbia has so far refrained from following suit but faces growing pressure over its neutrality and reluctance to sanction Moscow.