Serbia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday it was surprised by comments from Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova that appeared to question the consistency of President Aleksandar Vucic’s statements about relations with Moscow and Kyiv.
Deputy Foreign Minister Nevena Jovanovic said Serbia was a “sovereign and independent state that makes its decisions exclusively in accordance with its national interests.”
“From representatives of friendly countries and official spokespersons of their institutions, we expect respect for that fact,” Jovanovic wrote on social media platform X.
She added that Serbia, thanks to Vucic’s policy, was the only European country outside the Commonwealth of Independent States that had not imposed sanctions on Russia. “That decision was neither easy nor simple, but it was made out of the conviction that historic friendships are not abandoned under pressure,” she said.
The ministry said Serbia continued to maintain open channels of cooperation with Russia, including direct flights to several Russian cities, as part of its independent foreign policy despite a “highly complex international context.”
Serbia, it added, does not supply weapons or military equipment to any parties in armed conflicts and adheres strictly to international regulations and United Nations rules. The ministry also noted that, on Vucic’s initiative, all export permits for arms were elevated to the National Security Council to ensure no Serbian-made ammunition ends up in conflict zones.
Zakharova earlier told reporters that when listening to Vucic’s interviews, she was unsure whether “it was one or more persons speaking,” saying his statements “sound one way in Moscow and another elsewhere.”
She said Moscow had repeatedly received assurances from Serbian officials, including from Vucic himself, that Serbian-produced ammunition would not be delivered to Ukraine. Zakharova said she rejected “even the possibility” that Russian soldiers could be killed by Serbian weapons, calling it “unthinkable and unacceptable.”
Her remarks came less than 48 hours after a phone call between Vucic and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which the two leaders discussed bilateral relations, European integration and “open communication channels,” according to Vucic.
The exchange followed months of tensions over Russian allegations that Serbian arms had been re-exported to Ukraine via third countries — claims Belgrade denies.
Serbia’s Defense Ministry announced in June it had suspended all weapons exports under Vucic’s directive, pending approval from the National Security Council.
Despite the strain with Moscow, Vucic met Zelenskiy in June in Odesa during the Ukraine–Southeast Europe summit — his first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Zelenskiy at the time thanked Serbia for supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while Vucic said Belgrade remained committed to diplomacy and “a long-term and sustainable peace.”