Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic stated that since the start of the war in Ukraine, no weapons have been exported from Serbia to any of the “conflict” countries.
“I can say this because the permit [ginklų] for export is given by my ministry,” he said.
“Serbia does not supply military equipment to any country if we think it might cause any problems.”
Russia demanded an official explanation from its ally Serbia on Thursday over reports that the Balkan country has supplied Ukraine with thousands of missiles.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed “special concern” over the reports, which were first reported by pro-government Russian media last month.
“We are following this story,” Zakharova said in a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website late Thursday.
She added that the possible supply of weapons to Ukraine is a “serious issue” in terms of relations between Serbia and Russia, among others.
It was announced in the media that one Serbian state arms factory recently supplied Ukraine with regarding 3.5 thousand missiles for the Grad salvo missile fire systems used by both the Ukrainian and Russian armed forces. These 122 mm caliber rockets were allegedly delivered to Ukraine via Turkey and Slovakia.
Serbian Defense Minister Miloš Vučević has denied that the country exported missiles to Ukraine, but did not rule out the possibility that they might have entered Ukraine through a third country.
“If private companies buy weapons in third-country markets and then sell them to other companies in other countries, it’s not a question for Serbia, it’s international trade,” he stated.
Serbia is Moscow’s closest ally in Europe. The countries share historical, religious and cultural ties, which have been greatly strengthened by decades of pro-Russian propaganda campaigns in this Balkan country.
Russia supports Serbia’s claims to the territory of its former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. And Serbia refused to impose sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Western officials fear that Russia might take advantage of the tensions in Kosovo and try to destabilize the situation in the Balkans in order to divert at least some attention from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.