BELGRADE, January 13. /TASS/. Belgrade has no plans to join NATO and seeks to form a strong army to defend the country, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told national television following a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels.

When asked why Serbia was obtaining weapons when it could join the alliance, Vucic said: "We will not join NATO." "They have the right to obtain weapons because they are NATO members, while we - a free neutral nation - cannot defend ourselves? What is it that you don’t like? We only purchase defensive weapons, not offensive ones," the Serbian president pointed out, adding that Belgrade would never allow military operations against the Serbian people.

Russia supplies equipment to Serbia as part of military aid. Moscow earlier provided Belgrade with 30 T-72MS tanks, 30 BRDM-2MS armored vehicles and the Kornet anti-tank missile systems. Serbia is also expected to purchase Russia’s advanced Pantsir-S1M system. Russia delivered four Mil Mi-35M helicopters, six Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters, ten BRDM-2 vehicles, three Mil Mi-17V-5 helicopters and the Pantsir-S1 systems to Serbia between 2018 and February 2020 as part of military aid.