BELGRADE, April 21. /TASS/. The conflict in Ukraine changed everything, including by exposing Western hypocrisy to everyone, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with TV Prva on Thursday.

"[Swedish Foreign Minister] Tobias Billstrom told me that the war has changed everything. Yes, it is true, a lot of things changed, and we realized how hypocritical all of you [the West] have been," he said.

Vucic stressed that the West has been intimidating Serbia, whose policies are strictly in line with the international law and the UN Charter.

Serbian first deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ivica Dacic, said earlier that the Brussels agreements between Belgrade and Pristina were a sham, just like the Minsk Agreements on Ukrainian reconciliation. Vucic, in turn, expressed concern that the non-fulfillment of the Brussels agreements may cause a military conflict, just like the sabotage of the Minsk Agreements eventually led to Russia’s special operation in Ukraine.

In an interview with the Zeit newspaper published on December 7, 2022, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the Minsk Agreements were "an attempt to give time to Ukraine. It also used this time to become stronger as can be seen today. The Ukraine of 2014-2015 is not the modern Ukraine." According to the former German leader, "it was clear to everyone" that the conflict had stalled and the problem had not been resolved, "yet this was precisely what gave Ukraine invaluable time." She expressed doubt that at that time NATO members would have been able to support Kiev to the extent that they do now. Later, ex-French President Francois Hollande confirmed Merkel’s statements that the Minsk accords were necessary to give Kiev time to prepare for an armed conflict.

The First Agreement of Principles Governing the Normalization of Relations between Belgrade and Pristina, informally known as the Brussels Agreement, was concluded on April 19, 2013. This document stipulates the creation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, a self-governing body for Serbs living in unrecognized Kosovo. Vucic repeatedly stated that his country had implemented its part of the Brussels Agreement, whereas the Kosovars only started to draft the Community’s charter but then suspended the process.