ZAGREB, May 31. /TASS/. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic thinks that the EU’s new sanctions against Russia will only make Russian President Vladimir Putin smile.

"You can introduce a gas embargo against Russia [as well]. Why don’t you?" the Croatian leader noted in a conversation with journalists on Tuesday. "Unfortunately, the sanctions don’t work, possibly, at some point they will. And the ruble didn’t drop, Russia does not feel any of this from the financial point of view, and when it does, the war will be over. The price will be paid by European citizens while Vladimir Putin will smile with satisfaction," he explained.

That said, Milanovic asserted that there will be other customers for Russian oil and gas, above all, due to high demand for energy products.

The Croatian president assessed the possibility of his country becoming an energy hub for Central Europe in the near future. "I would like for Croatia to become a key player. However, Croatia is not a key player and not a player at all," he stressed. "The fact that oil will go through our pipeline, what does this mean? Currently, we are also receiving gas through Serbia, all of this is interrelated. And Serbia [receives] oil through us. All of these are limited capacities that this oil pipeline (Adria pipeline, JANAF - TASS) can cope with, just as our gas pipeline from an LNG terminal [on Krk Island]," he explained.

According to the Croatian head of state, in his opinion, Hungary is the key player in this sphere as well as partially Slovakia and the Czech Republic.