Conflict in Ukraine is a world war where the West is fighting against Russia
New Delhi: The conflict in Ukraine is a world war, where the West is fighting against Russia through Ukrainian soldiers, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday.
“We should understand that amid the world war, all the talks that it is a regional or a local war must be dropped. The entire Western world is fighting against Russia via Ukrainians. It is global conflict,” he said in an interview with the media.
According to the Serbian leader, the situation in Ukraine is also telling on the Balkans and he vowed, however, that Serbia will spare no effort to preserve peace in the region.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbas republics. Putin stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country. After that, Western countries imposed harsh sanctions against Russia.
Russia and Serbia are both predominantly Slavic and Eastern Orthodox countries, which share a strong mutual cultural affinity. The countries have been close allies for centuries, and the friendship between them has been strongly maintained despite Serbia’s recent attempt to maintain closer relations with the West.
On the other side, Serbia occupies a key strategic juncture in the Balkans at the social, political, and geographic crossroads of Eastern and Western Europe. The United States seeks to strengthen its relationship with Serbia by deepening cooperation based on mutual interest and respect.
(Vinayak)
