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Serbia supplies weapons to neither Russia nor Ukraine — foreign minister

Ivica Dacic clarified that he was quite familiar with the relevant data, as the Serbian Foreign Ministry issues permits for arms exports

BELGRADE, March 3. /TASS/. Serbia has not sent weapons to either Ukraine or Russia since the beginning of the conflict, nor has the Balkan nation authorized any intermediary shipments of Serbian military hardware to those countries, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Friday.

"Since the start of the Ukraine war, Serbia has nether sent nor permitted the delivery of its arms and military equipment to Ukraine and Russia, nor to any other country which could be deemed objectionable [as a recipient of such weaponry] from an international point of view," Dacic was quoted as saying by the Tanjug news agency.

The minister clarified that he was quite familiar with the relevant data, as the Serbian Foreign Ministry issues permits for arms exports. Dacic added that he was talking about legitimate companies that are licensed to carry out arms exports.

On March 2, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia had asked Belgrade to state its official position concerning reports about Serbian ammunition being delivered to Ukraine. Earlier, she said that Moscow was "deeply concerned" about such information, adding that Russia was closely monitoring the situation. The spokeswoman stressed that such statements should be made "not through the media, not through Telegram channels, and not through leaks, but through the officially stated position of the Serbian side."

"Facts must be presented, and then relevant conclusions will be made, since this is an extremely important matter indeed for the bilateral relationship," she added.

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