"I hope that Serbia will endure. We are kinfolk"

"I hope that Serbia will endure. We are kinfolk"

That West imposed sanctions on Russia.

"We can see it and we know what kind of political wisdom and resilience President [Aleksandar] Vucic has to show. We know how he has to look for subtle balances. We also hope that Serbia is strong enough, is sovereign enough not to join the ranks of the mainstream collective West," the Kremlin spokesman said for ATV.

He pointed out that Moscow cares a lot about relations with Belgrade, and that these relations are not based on the principle of mutual benefit.

"We cherish our relationship with Belgrade very much. It is a relationship that is not only based on the principles of mutual benefit, but it has very old historical roots, religious roots, we are very close, we are kinfolk. However, we are also aware that much more pressure is being put on them than on Republic of Srpska," Peskov said.

He added that Serbia is a sovereign state and that Russia has nothing against its relations with Western countries.

"We believe that nothing, no cooperation with Western or other countries should be an obstacle to the continued development of our relations. That is the most important thing for us," said Peskov.

"They are our friends, they are our sisters and brothers, they are our partners, they are our strategic partners," he said.

Speaking about the position of the Republic of Srpska, the Kremlin spokesman pointed out that Moscow appreciates the firm stance of "Serbian friends who are really consistently acting in order to maintain good relations between the Russian Federation and Banja Luka".

He added that these relations will continue to develop and will only strengthen in all areas.

"We know what kind of pressure there is inside Bosnia and Herzegovina, what kind of external pressure there is within the framework of international mechanisms, which function in accordance with the Dayton Peace Agreement. And, of course, in accordance with our capabilities, primarily economically, we are ready to support the Republic of Srpska so that it had the strength to consistently follow its direction, within the same country in which it is located," said Peskov.

When it comes to the status of Republic of Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Peskov said that it is one of the two entities in that country and that it is absolutely equal, in accordance with the Dayton Agreement from 1995.

"We see that the states of the same collective West are trying to gradually obscure the combination of those two entities and they are gradually encroaching on the foundations of the equality of the two entities. This is a very dangerous process," he pointed out and added that Moscow, in the given situation, absolutely supports rights of Banja Luka.

Answering a question about the ban on Russian media in Europe, Peskov said that the Anglo-Saxons had a monopoly in the field of media for a long time, and that the Russian attempt to create competition immediately caused hysteria.

"Immediately all the masks fell and it turned out that no rights of media freedom exist there. As soon as some media became unfit, as soon as some media started showing a point of view different from their mainstream, they simply started banning them", he said.