BELGRADE, March 12. /TASS/. Belgrade has withdrawn its vote in favor of an anti-Russian UN resolution on the conflict in Ukraine, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said.
"The Serbian mission to the United Nations has changed its vote to ‘abstained’ at the UN Secretariat, bringing the issue to an end," the top Serbian diplomat pointed out in an interview with the NIN magazine.
Djuric stressed that all responsibility regarding the country’s vote on the resolution "lies primarily" with him. The foreign minister explained that he saw the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of recognized countries as a priority in terms of Serbia’s position in the UN.
"We should have abstained and I won’t try to shift responsibility. <...> If there’s anybody who should apologize, it’s me," the Serbian foreign minister added.
On February 24, the United Nations General Assembly voted for an anti-Russian draft resolution on Ukraine. The document, co-sponsored by European countries and Ukraine, was backed by 93 nations, including Serbia. The country’s President Aleksandar Vucic later said that it was a mistake and stressed that the country had been expected to abstain from voting. The Serbian leader took the blame and apologized to the country’s people.