BELGRADE, March 10. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has written Ukraine off so the Ukrainian authorities should search for a solution to the conflict in direct talks with Moscow, Serbia’s Parliament Speaker and former Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Thursday.

"I earlier said that [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg had stated on behalf of NATO that NATO would do everything to prevent the conflict from spreading. It means, spreading beyond Ukraine! But wait, doesn’t it mean that they have simply written Ukraine off, they have made an official statement that they are only obliged to protect their allies. What does this signal mean for Ukraine? It means that [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky should resolve the conflict in direct talks with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Dacic pointed out.

He also mentioned his activities during Serbia’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2015. According to Dacic, he made great efforts to ensure the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, visiting Kiev, Donetsk and Minsk. "However, it was already clear back then that the West is only interested in Ukraine as long as it is willing to fight against Russia," the Serbian politician emphasized.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories. In response, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and a number of other countries announced sanctions on Russian individuals and entities.