Russia takes note of Vucic’s announcement that it will investigate arms supplies to Ukraine

Moscow, June 4 (EFE).- Russia took note of the statements by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic regarding the supply of weapons manufactured in his country to Ukraine, following the denunciation by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) that companies from the Balkan nation were sending armaments to Kyiv. “We take note of the public statements by the Serbian head of state that a review of technical-military cooperation with its foreign partners will be carried out to detect machinations with end-use certificates,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at a press conference. According to the representative of Russian diplomacy, Moscow hopes that “these announced measures will allow for the detection and timely cancellation of dubious export agreements, preventing leaks of military productions to undesired recipients.”

On May 29, the SVR accused Serbia, an ally of the Kremlin, of supplying “hundreds of thousands of projectiles” and “millions of bullets” to Ukraine through NATO countries.

The SVR statement, entitled “Serbian Military Industry Attempts to Shoot Russia in the Back,” noted that “Serbian defense companies, despite Belgrade’s declared ‘neutrality,’ continue to supply ammunition to Kyiv,” using Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and even African countries as intermediaries.

Moscow criticized the situation, pointing out that these weapons kill and maim both Russian military personnel and civilians, while “Russia has repeatedly come to the aid of the Serbs in the most critical moments of their history.”

On May 9th, Vucic discussed the possibility of signing a new gas agreement with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during his visit to Moscow, where he also attended the military parade in honor of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in World War II.

Vucic then stated that the supply of Russian energy resources is of utmost importance to Belgrade and expressed his hope that the supply would be maintained in good condition.

For his part, the director of the Serbian state gas company Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, said recently that Belgrade wants to sign a new contract for the supply of Russian gas for a period of 10 years, something that could be sealed by the end of this year.