Moscow's message to Serbia: Absolutely

Moscow's message to Serbia: Absolutely

In an interview with Tanjug, on the occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of the "special military operation" in Ukraine, he assessed that "unprecedented pressure" is being exerted on Serbia due to its principled stance of not imposing sanctions on Russia.

When asked how he sees the foreign policy position of Serbia to be affected by the attitude of not imposing sanctions on Moscow, he recalls that Serbia has been exposed to constant pressure since the end of the 1980s.

"Now that pressure is increasing, an unprecedented pressure due to the principled stance and endurance that Serbia and the President of Serbia are showing, and we understand that," he said.

As he says, the situation has become even more difficult for Serbia, which in February 2022 adopted the position that it does not agree to sanctions.

"The West is asking for Serbia to join the sanctions or, as they say, the EU's foreign policy, they repeat that the European path depends on it, that position is very difficult," he said.

He added that the desire of the West to talk with Belgrade is only about two things - sanctions against Russia and the so-called Kosovo, and they demand concessions from Serbia.

When asked how he sees the relations between Serbia and Russia, he says that he hopes that Serbia will remain committed to its stance on sanctions, which Russia appreciates very much.

The West is now adopting a new package of sanctions against Russia, and there were about 14,000 sanctions, which is a precedent in history, Botsan-Kharchenko said.

In one year, obstacles were created in the cooperation with Serbia, as he says, but it generally proceeded in a satisfactory manner. "I expect bilateral cooperation to continue uninterrupted", said the ambassador.

When asked how he sees the statements of Serbian officials who mention the possible introduction of sanctions, he says that they always start from reality, respecting every statement.

"President Vučić said that he does not rule out that possibility, but states that the current position corresponds to the national interest", said the ambassador and assessed that such statements show that Vučić is not hiding anything, that he openly shows concern, primarily due to pressures.

"But I didn't get the impression that that statement is a hint of sanctions that may follow soon," said Botsan-Kharchenko.

When asked whether we can be sure that Moscow will not change its position on the issue of so-called independence of Kosovo, he said: "Absolutely sure".

"The position is part of our fraternal relations, and the second is that Russia is committed to international law and believes that Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council is the basis for solving the Kosovo issue," said the ambassador of the Russian Federation.

He says that the Russian position on non-recognition of the so-called Kosovo is principled.

"Nothing changes here, our cooperation regarding Kosovo in international institutions continues, primarily in the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member."

Russia is in favor of negotiations on the conflict in Ukraine

The ambassador said that there are no changes in relation to the goals set by the Russian president when the special military operation was launched a year ago, so that all tasks will be fulfilled in a dignified manner.

On the assessment that both sides seem to lack the will to initiate negotiations and reach an agreement, Botsan-Kharchenko states that Russia was in favor of negotiations from the very beginning, and that Ukraine abandoned overnight the platform considered in Istanbul in the spring of 2022.

According to him, the best thing about Ukraine's attitude towards negotiations is that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an order prohibiting talks.

"In any case, so far we have not heard any serious offers for a solution to the conflict," said Botsan-Kharchenko and added that peace requires the political will of the West and Kyiv, which was also stated in the meetings of high-ranking Russian officials with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Moscow.

Regarding Zelensky's peace proposal, he said that it is not realistic and acceptable even for the beginning of some serious talks.

"We had a draft in Istanbul, but the Kyiv regime gave up overnight, because the West ordered it not to negotiate further, with a promise to increase the supply of weapons. That's why the war lasts so long," he said and reminded that Turkey played a very good mediating role.

Our goal is to end the conflict that started in 2014

When asked what the situation is in Russia today, a year later, he says that in Russia there is an understanding of the goals of the special military operation, for the situation when the President of Russia had no other option but to use force to protect the interests of the Russian people, which the sequence of events confirms.

"Our goal is to end the conflict that began in 2014, with a bloody coup, and has lasted for more than eight years, during which Russia consistently and persistently sought a peaceful solution, based on the Minsk agreements," he said.

He stated that there were a lot of lies by the West and the regime in Kyiv and that Angela Merkel, as he reminded, admitted that for them it was a diplomatic game that would give Kyiv the opportunity to prepare its army for the further conquest of Donbass.

As he added, the Ukrainians, contrary to all agreements, suddenly intensified the bombing of Donbas on February 17, 2022.

The Russian economy has become more efficient in some areas, despite the sanctions.

He emphasized that the unity of the army and the people reigns in Russia, the economy is developing, especially the defense sector, and there is no harm in the social sphere in which the four new subjects of the Federation are included.

"They announced that the Russian economy would be destroyed immediately after the first package of sanctions, and it has become even more efficient in some spheres," said the ambassador.

When asked if they expected the operation to last this long and how far we are from its completion, he says that there were no time frames and that he does not engage in speculation.

The aim of delivering weapons to Kyiv is to continue the conflict and weaken Russia

When asked how he sees the sequence of events in Ukraine and experts' predictions that Ukrainian and Russian offensives will follow, he says that there are plans that only the Supreme Commander, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff know about.

"The most important reason why everything is taking longer is the arms deliveries from the USA, Germany and a number of other Western countries, whose goal is to continue the conflict and weaken Russia," the ambassador said.

Everything, he says, is done based on plans, the Russian army will go step by step. Large territories have already been liberated, infrastructure is being restored, including social infrastructure.

When asked how many Russian citizens live in Serbia and whether he is satisfied with their position, he says that the estimates are around 150,000, but that there is no accurate data, and adds that the conditions in Serbia are favorable for life and business.