European Union candidate Serbia will continue to refuse to impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine despite Western pressure, SerbiaB次元官网网址檚 leader said after his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

Populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that he believes the call, what he said was his first in more than two years with the Russian president, will help B次元官网网址渇urther development of relations and trust between Russia and Serbia.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e talked as people who have known each other for a long time, as friends, and the ten-minute conversation was marked by a personal note, and we also talked about those who are weak (pro-Western) leaders,B次元官网网址� Vucic said.

Vucic quoted Putin as saying B次元官网网址渨hat is good for Serbia is also good for Russia, what is good for the Serbs is also good for the Russians.B次元官网网址�

Vucic did not say whether he would accept an earlier invitation by Putin to attend a BRICS summit of emerging economies, led by Russia and China, in Kazan later this week.

Although formally seeking EU membership, traditional Russian Slavic ally Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine though it has reluctantly condemned MoscowB次元官网网址檚 aggression. Vucic has said that imposing the sanctions wasnB次元官网网址檛 in SerbiaB次元官网网址檚 national interest.

He said Sunday he expects criticism from the West of his conversation with Putin, but stated that B次元官网网址淪erbia is a sovereign country which makes its own decisions.B次元官网网址�

He also thanked Russia B次元官网网址渇or providing sufficient quantities of gas for Serbia at favorable prices.B次元官网网址� Serbia was almost completely dependent on the Russian gas but has recently agreed to start to diversify its supplies.

Serbia, which was never part of the Soviet bloc, on Sunday marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of its capital Belgrade from the Nazi World War II occupation, which was accomplished mostly thanks to former YugoslaviaB次元官网网址檚 communist partisans, but also the Soviet Red Army.

BelgradeB次元官网网址檚 nationalist authorities marked the liberation date with a display of the pro-Russian sentiment, with thousands marching through Belgrade waving Russian flags and chanting slogans.

At a meeting marking the anniversary, Vucic delivered a speech in the Russian language, which he said is a sign of respect for the Red Army, without which B次元官网网址渢here would not have been the liberation of Belgrade.B次元官网网址�