MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Serbia's political establishment will not be able to maintain good relations with the Russian authorities if they supply ammunition and weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces, as they can't be on both sides at once, Natalia Nikonorova, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs and former head of the DPR Foreign Ministry, told TASS.
On June 24, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that his country had ceased all exports of ammunition and that all domestically-made arms would now be reserved for the country’s own military use. According to him, weapons will only be exported in exceptional cases and only with special government approval. He also claimed that, following the decision to suspend arms and ammunition exports, Belgrade came under serious pressure, including threats to organize protests at defense industry enterprises.
"Despite the fact that, according to media reports, the Serbian top leadership is under pressure over this decision, the head of state assures that he will stick to the suspension. There’s no sitting on the fence in this situation. The Serbian politician will have to make a concrete choice. Only actions, not words, will show what that choice is," Nikonorova said.
She pointed out that this is not the first time Russia has recorded Serbian weapons and ammunition ending up in the hands of the Ukrainian military. "With regard to the Russian-Serbian alliance, we are referring to genuine bonds that have united our peoples for decades. I think the publication of the Russian SVR investigation results could be a revelation for the wider Serbian audience," the senator added.
On June 23, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that ammunition produced at Serbian defense enterprises, mainly for heavy long-range systems, "is sent to NATO countries in the interests of Ukraine in the form of complete sets of parts for assembly." This allows Kiev to "formally receive not Serbian military products," but rather those assembled at Western arms factories, according to the report. The SVR noted that ammunition is assembled and fitted mainly in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.