BELGRADE, May 29. /TASS/. Serbia will continue to pursue a sovereign policy and refuse from imposing anti-Russian sanctions as long as it can, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday, commenting on the West’s pressure on the issue of the unrecognized republic of Kosovo.
"We are living under pressure every day. It is not easy to pursue an independent and sovereign policy. As long as we can stand it, we will conduct an independent and sovereign policy. It is difficult to say but it was difficult to say 90 days ago. But even after 90 days, we still have our position we took on the first day after the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. This pressure will concern Kosovo, not to leave it as a precedent. <…> It is important for them to make Serbia sign an agreement with the Albanians as soon as possible, firth of all, on the recognition of Kosovo’s independence, because it would be a solution to all their problems and would strengthen the West’s position on Russia," he said.
Vucic has repeatedly said that his country supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity but won’t impose sanctions against Russia. He also announced that Belgrade is suspending army and police drills with all foreign partners. He noted that Serbia considered Russia and Ukraine to be brotherly nations, regrets what is going on in Eastern Europe and is ready to offer humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country.
Following this step, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and several other countries announced sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities.