BELGRADE, March 24. /TASS/: Should Serbia agree to impose sanctions on Russia, by taking such a move it would justify NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999, Russia’s ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko told the newspaper Informer in an interview.
"The West is exerting pressures on Serbia [on the issue of sanctions against Russia], which is more than obvious, and I believe there will be no stopping it. It is very important for them for economic and political reasons and, I should say, for some moral reasons, too, to have Serbia as an ally against Russia. In this way they would justify NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999 to a certain extent, by showing that they are always ‘on the right side’," Botsan-Kharchenko said.
He remarked, though, that he was not expecting Serbia might agree to impose sanctions on Russia.
"It is very important for us to see Serbia refuse to impose sanctions and to opt for further cooperation," the Russian ambassador said.
Earlier, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said in an address to the nation that Serbia supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but would not impose restrictions on Russia. Also, Vucic said that Serbia was pausing all joint army and police exercises with foreign partners. He stressed that Serbia regarded Russia and Ukraine as brotherly countries, felt regret over the current events in the east of Europe and was prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 launched a special military operation in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He pointed out that Moscow had no plans for an occupation of Ukrainian territories. The United States, the European Union, Britain and a number of other countries said they were imposing sanctions on Russian individuals and legal entities.
