MFA: Moscow expects Serbia to terminate suspicious military contracts

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has announced plans to review Serbia’s military-technical cooperation agreements with foreign partners to detect any possible abuses involving end-user certificates. Moscow has acknowledged this statement, signalling ongoing scrutiny of Serbia’s arms export practices.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, conveyed this during a recent briefing, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

She highlighted that the review aims to promptly identify and cancel suspicious export contracts to prevent military equipment from reaching unintended users.

The announcement comes in the wake of claims by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service in late May that Serbian defence companies were supplying ammunition to Kyiv, despite Serbia’s official stance of neutrality. In response, Vučić said he would instruct authorities to halt contracts if there is suspicion that the weapons might end up in the hands of Kyiv.

Zakharova stressed, “We expect that the declared measures will allow timely detection and termination of dubious export deals, preventing the diversion of military products to unintended recipients.”

As she noted, Moscow is convinced that the Serbian authorities are well aware of "the whole range of risks" associated with the military-industrial complex's products ending up in Kyiv. The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed hope that Serbia will take effective measures to ensure that "nothing casts a shadow on the good relations" between Moscow and Belgrade.

Vučić also revealed that he discussed the accusations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I will not disclose the details of the conversation. We have created a joint working group with our Russian partners to establish the facts,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of the arms industry for Serbia, Vučić pointed out that around 24,000 people are directly or indirectly employed in the sector. He posed a rhetorical question: “If we cannot export to America, if we cannot export to EU countries, if we cannot export to Türkiye, if we cannot export to Arab countries, if we cannot export to Africa, then, excuse me, where should we export to?”

He underscored that Serbian factories “must live and work” and acknowledged the political complexities involved, saying, “On the other hand, I have understood this from a political point of view.”

By Tamilla Hasanova