The Financial Times recently announced that Serbia has exported weapons worth € 800 million to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's attack on that country. And the president of Serbia did not deny that. But when Nova newspaper and web portal wrote that the Russian side was dissatisfied with Serbian weapons and that the President of Serbia was informed about this during his last visit to Moscow, he attacked the media.

Vucic first reacted to the daily’s front page on his Instagram account and at at daybreak, he held another address.

He accused the media once again over the allegation that the Russian diplomat and his recent guest Aleksandar Grushko was dissatisfied with the argument that Serbia cannot influence where the weapons it sells will end up… And the weapons are ending up in Ukraine.

„Was the export of Serbian arms to Ukraine the topic of the conversation, bearing in mind that there were also official Russian positions that they were worried about that information“. N1 asked the President.

„Look at what Mrs. Bulajic tried to say and whatever you answer you will be attacked from both sides. On the one hand, she would like to tell you that if you say yes, we are proud to arm Ukraine, then one could say ‘Putin, have you seen what they are doing to you’. If you say ‘No, that’s not true’, then one could say ‘Have you seen, our Western friends, that you are dealing with Putin’s servant, and what is at stake’,“ Aleksandar Vucic responded without answering N1’s question.

When there are no arguments and no concrete answers – the President attacks the media.

Not one, but two completely independent sources confirmed to journalists the information about Russia’s dissatisfaction with the export of Serbian weapons to Ukraine.

And it is not the first time that the Russian side is demanding answers.

„I think the biggest problem for the President is that this story somehow penetrated his electorate. This is his base, these are the people who are in favour of Russia, who are in favour of Putin, and any move against Putin is a signal for him and for them that they don’t like it,“ said Mihailo Jovicevic, director and editor-in-chief of the Nova.rs portal.

A signal that Russo-Serbian relations have been damaged is, according to Nova’s information, the fact that Putin is not responding to Vucic’s calls. While, for example, Republika Srpska (RS) entity President Milorad Dodik is going to Moscow for meetings with the Russian President more and more often.

„Here I am asking them, through whom and when have I tried to talk to President Putin, that he didn’t want to respond. Here, show me that and I’ll no longer be the President of the Republic,“ Vucic claimed.

Russian Ambassador Aleksandar Bochan Kharchenko dismissed speculations regarding the program and agenda of the Russian diplomat’s working visit, without mentioning either weapons or Putin.

The fact that weapons are not the only problem in Russo-Serbian relations was evident from the reaction of the Russian Duma – which recalled President Vuvic’s messages about the historic friendship and alliance with America regarding the American participation in the bombing in 1999.