MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. The West will not be able to change the attitude of the Serb people toward the Russians, President Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska (one of the two political entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina) told TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov in an exclusive interview.

According to the leader of Republika Srpska, Western countries are seeking to impose their views on Serbs and "punish" them with sanctions. "But I am proud of Republika Srpska and the Serbs in general, of how they react to this. And I don’t think there is a way the West can change the Serbs’ opinion of the Russian people, either through direct coercion or by any other means," Dodik said.

On February 21, Dodik had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan. "It’s an honor for me to meet with President Putin and to show our friendship <...> He has always supported us, because this is friendship, this is a good relationship, and [there is] understanding between the [two] peoples, between the leaders," the Republika Srpska president said. "There is pressure coming from the West which is seeking to turn everybody against Russia. We are not doing that (not changing our position - TASS," he concluded.