Serbia turns blind eye to its ammunition ending up in Ukraine Article by Financial Times

Serbia has been discreetly stepping up sales of ammunition to the west.

It ends up bolstering the defence of Ukraine — even though it is one of only two European countries not to join western sanctions against Russia, Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

Estimates shared with the Financial Times put Serbia’s ammunition exports that have come to Ukraine via third parties at about 800 million euros ($855 million) — a sum President Aleksandar Vučić indicated was broadly accurate — since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

He presented the situation as a business opportunity, insisting he would not take sides in the war.

“This is a part of our economic revival and important for us. Yes, we do export our ammunition,” he said in an interview. “We cannot export to Ukraine or to Russia but we have had many contracts with Americans, Spaniards, Czechs, others. What they do with that in the end is their job.”

Serbia is neither a member of Nato nor the EU, and its people have long had a sentimental attachment to Russia while resenting the west after Nato’s bombing campaign on their country in 1999.

Belgrade also counts on Moscow to block international recognition of Kosovo, the former Serbian province recognised by most western states, but which is held back from UN membership by Russia and China.

Vučić has resisted western pressure to adopt the Russia sanctions regime and has allowed Russian flights to continue, even as he says he is committed to his country becoming an EU member.

He has also sought to hedge his bets and keep a distance between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.