Kiev imposes sanctions on Serbians who visited Crimea

Kiev imposes sanctions on Serbians who visited Crimea

She said sanctions had been imposed on four Serbian citizens and one citizen of the Czech Republic for "illegally staying in the territory of Crimea."

Earlier in the day, reports said that Serbia's SNP party leader Nenad Popovic and "several Serbian businesspeople" have been invited to an economic forum in Yalta next month.

Leader of Crimea Republic Serge Aksyonov announced this on Facebook, a week after his meeting with Popovic.

It was precisely this meeting that caused new tensions between Serbia and Ukraine, as the Ukrainian ambassador in Belgrade protested against the stay and the statements made by the Serbian delegation in the territory that Russia incorporated in 2014.

The Serbian government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are yet to react to Kiev's strongly-worded protest made last week.

Popovic, however, spoke for B92 to say that Crimea belongs to Russia - "just as Kosovo is Serbia."

Ukraine's ambassador to Serbia will likely react once again if the leader of the SNP, a member of the ruling coalition, traveled to Crimea once again.

In the past, Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic on several occasions said that his country's official position is to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.