Russia’s Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko reiterated that the West is blackmailing Serbia to join the EU in imposing sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, at a time when Serbia has refused to join the draconian sanctions on Moscow.

The official highlighted that the EU is attempting to pull Serbia to its side in the matter of interaction with Russia, or punishing Belgrade for refusing to do so.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he argued that "Brussels has reached a decision to restrict the supply of Russian oil, and Belgrade, despite its status as an EU candidate, was not exempt from it," stressing that the EU aims by applying such measures to intimidate and punish those who refuse to join the "pack".

"We have often spoken in detail about the obvious benefits for Belgrade from retaining full-scale collaboration with Russia. These are reasonable prices for energy resources supplied continuously from Russia, revenues from their transit to Hungary, large-scale investments in our joint company NIS, modernization of hydropower through Power Machines and railway infrastructure by Russian Railways, as well as new projects in the field of high technologies and innovations," the Ambassador said.

On his account, Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic warned during a visit to Turkey that placing sanctions on Russia would be a mistake that would harm the country.

It is worth noting that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has constantly reiterated that Belgrade will not impose sanctions on Russia until its very existence is threatened.

Read more: As EU isolates Russia, Serbia embraces old ally