The interior minister says that Western states are trying to whitewash their own sins by pressuring Belgrade to sanction Moscow.
The interior minister says it is not in Serbia's interests to reduce cooperation with Russia and absolve the West of its crimes.
Serbia says it is not interested in diminishing its closeness and cooperation with Moscow, but by trying to force Belgrade to impose sanctions on Russia, the West simply seeks to absolve itself from its own crimes.
Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said in an interview with the Novosti newspaper that Serbs have always been expected to do something for others and neglect their own interests.
It is not in Serbia's interest to participate in the conflicts of the greats, and it is not in Serbia's interest to diminish the closeness and cooperation with Russia and its leadership, the minister said.
He claimed that when Western countries ask Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia, they know it wouldn't mean much for Russia from an economic perspective, but would serve as a significant moral blow.
The moral greatness of Serbia is disproportionate to its firepower, and that is why they need that little tormented Serbia, that brave victim, to be with them, he said.
In his opinion, the US and its allies have nothing but morals and so they want Serbia to absolve them of the crimes they have committed and absolve them of the sins of violating international law. According to Vulin, any anti-Russian hysteria is always anti-Serbian, unlike Western admirers of the right to vote and democracy, despotic Russia and China never demanded us to impose sanctions on the EU or US, and accept their choice as their own. The minister said that he does not want Russia to be defeated in Ukraine.
The defeat of Russia would be felt with all its might in all positions of Serbia, as it always has been, he said.
Vulin applauded Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for showing strength that surpasses the position of the president of a small country in opposing the sanctions on Russia.
He said that Vucic is not a little Russian. He is a great Serb.
The US, EU, UK, and many other countries view Russia's military operation in Ukraine as an act of unprovoked aggression and have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow.
On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a press conference with Serbian President that Serbia must follow the EU's lead in sanctioning Russia and recognize the Kosovo state as an independent state if it wants to join the bloc someday.
Vucic stated that it would be difficult for Belgrade to sanction Russia. He told Serbian TV that the EU's oil embargo has already cost $600 million in higher prices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the sanctions have backfired on the West, citing the inflation and shortages that the US and EU governments are trying to blame on Moscow. The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the sanctions have made a huge difference to food and energy prices as a result of record-setting inflation.