Serbia is ready to support sanctions against Russia if there are guarantees of EU membership

Serbia will not support Europe's sanctions against Russia until the country has guarantees of EU membership. This was stated by Serbian Minister for European Affairs Nemanja Starovic.

"[The sanctions] will not affect Russia in any way, but the Serbian economy will be affected on a huge scale," the minister said .

According to him, Serbia is ready to fully support sanctions when EU membership "becomes obvious," i.e., a few months before joining the EU. At the same time, he said that the country has already done enough to support Ukraine, in particular, "it has not unequivocally condemned the Russian aggression.".

"If we are criticized for not doing enough for Ukraine, my answer is simple: let Ukrainians speak for themselves," Starovic said .

• In May, the Serbian president said that the country would not sell ammunition, if it suspected that it was being transferred to Ukraine.
• On June 11, Serbian President Vucic refused to sign a declaration in support of Ukraine, in order "not to betray" Russia.