Vucic discussed expected US sanctions against NIS with Lavrov by phone

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic discussed the expected US sanctions against the company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) during a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. This was announced by the Serbian leader on December 23, as quoted by his official website.

The sides also touched upon the topic of bilateral cooperation, particularly the issues of increasing trade exchange between Serbia and Russia.

"We also discussed all other important issues of our bilateral cooperation, reaffirmed the friendship between our countries and expressed confidence that through our more active participation we will be able to increase trade exchange between Serbia and Russia," Vucic said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry's website added that Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow 's solidarity with Belgrade in protecting the indigenous rights of the Serbian people in accordance with the principles of international law, as repeatedly expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Vucic announced the start of negotiations with Russia and the United States over the possible imposition of sanctions against NIS from the American side on December 16. Prior to that, on December 14, Vucic said, amid reports of US plans to impose sanctions against NIS, that Serbia is not ready "even to discuss" potential sanctions against Russia. The president specified that upon receipt of an official document on sanctions, he would try to talk to the US and Russia to resolve the issue.

Earlier, on October 25, Deputy Prime Minister of the Balkan republic Alexander Vulin told Izvestia that Serbia is ready to increase the transit of Russian gas through its territory to the European Union (EU) countries. In addition, the republic has signed an agreement with Gazprom to increase gas imports.

Western countries increased sanctions pressure on Russia after the start of the special operation to protect civilians in Donbass, which was announced on February 24, 2022.