They accept it in Serbia: Buying Russian weapons will bring US sanctions

America's Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer, while in Skopje, threatened Serbia with special sanctions if the state that does not want NATO membership buys military equipment from Russia.

However, Palmer likely mentioned this stance even Monday when he stayed in Belgrade, but did not mention it at the joint conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq.

The latter had estimated that sanctions would be great injustice, the news says.net.

On the other hand, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies Director Jelena Miliq says this can happen.

Miliq has explained what sanctions Serbia can expect if it buys weapons from Russia.

US “Congress passed a law called “Fighting US enemies through sanctions”, due to Russian intervention in US elections, but mainly due to the illegal annexation of Crime. These are sectoral sanctions, most often a funding blockade, a purchase ban and similar things... they are not sanctions of the type imposed on Serbia as happened in the 1990s by the Security Council and the UN General Assembly “, explained Miliq in “TvO2”

Miliq has added that neither the State Department nor the White House can influence it, and that it does not matter that Serbia is a neutral-military state.

Serbia would fall under sanctions and under automatism if it finally bought weapons. This is nothing personal or directly related to Serbia because it is not a law adopted by Congress and the State Department and thus the White House cannot change that law. In America, it is the law and this law is nothing personal”, Miliq stressed.

Miliq says only specific sectors would be sanctioned by America if Serbia bought weapons from Russia.

“Sanctions would fall only to parts related to purchase, parts of ministries or individuals”, Miliq stressed.