The NATO Czech Republic offers Serbia to convince Russia to end the air defense system
Serbia, along with China and Turkey, could become a mediator in the process of achieving peace in Ukraine. This was stated by Czech President Milos Zeman during a joint press conference with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic.
Zeman arrived on a two-day visit to Serbia, which will also be his last foreign trip at the end of his second presidential term, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At a joint press conference, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said:
“President Zeman and I condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and will continue to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
But Serbia is the only one that has not imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation, this is a unique position in Europe and can be easily explained if you look at the challenges we face when it comes to our integrity and sovereignty, and who supports us in the UN Security Council . And we also had experience of sanctions in the nineties,” Vucic said.
In turn, Milos Zeman said that he appreciates the fact that Serbia condemned “Russian aggression in Ukraine.” According to him, together with China, these two countries can play a role in ending the fighting in Ukraine.
“I told Vucic about this today. And the third country that can act as a mediator is Turkey,” Zeman said, recalling Ankara’s role in the grain deal.
“I have already said and repeat that it is precisely this position of Serbia’s neutrality, which does not support Russian sanctions, that can be an advantage for the possible role of a mediator. The mediator should not clearly stand on one side or another,” the President of the Czech Republic noted.
He recalled that he tried to get the Czech government to cancel recognition of the so-called “Republic of Kosovo”, and in 2021, during Aleksandar Vucic’s visit to Milos Zeman, he publicly apologized for the fact that the Czech Republic, as a NATO member, was involved in the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.
In turn, the Serbian President thanked his Czech colleague for his position on Kosovo and NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, retired army general and former head of the NATO Military Committee Petr Pavel has been elected as the new president of the Czech Republic; he will take office in early March 2023.
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