It has been an open secret for years that Serbia produces in great style grenades for Ukraine. When investigative journalists on the front filmed cartridges, freshly produced in Serbia, the president of the country Aleksandar Vučić he went into the draw.
"We will continue to export where it is allowed. They see one shell (in Ukraine), one bullet. So what, and where do they appear, there are several war zones in the world. Ammunition is used in wars to kill people," he said during 2023.
But "one grenade", then another, and that's it Financial Times claimed two years ago that Serbia supplied Ukraine with ammunition worth close to one billion euros in the first two years of the war.
Now, in a spicy moment for Vučić, the president of Ukraine himself is coming to visit for the weekend Volodymyr Zelensky, the unexpected interlocutor described how the whole business went and what his role was in it.
Vučić knew where the weapons were going
Christopher Hill, a high-calibre diplomat, was suddenly brought back from retirement in 2022 to be ambassador in Belgrade.
"At the beginning of my mandate in Belgrade, the Ukrainian ambassador came to me with a list of military supplies that Ukraine urgently needed on the battlefield. My team at the embassy checked whether the Serbs were able to fulfill these orders - and they were," Hill told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Photo: Tanjug/Vladimir ŠporčićChristopher Hill: How I made sure that Serbia supplies grenades to Ukraine
"The United States began to support the purchase of significant amounts of Serbian ammunition, which we knew Ukraine urgently needed," he said.
There is no question that Serbia did not know where the weapons would end up, writes the Frankfurt paper. It went to Ukraine through official agents, Poland and the Czech Republic. Of course, they also knew that in Moscow, where silent and loud warnings came from. Allegedly, Vladimir Putin himself admonished Vučić during the meeting in Beijing.
Did Serbia also sell to Russia?
Hill added that it was important to the American side that Serbia's engagement does not act as "war profiteering" but that Serbia "stands on the right side of history."
He believes that criticism of Belgrade for not joining the sanctions against Moscow is excessive. As ambassador, he said, he advocated the position that "Serbia can take far more important measures than playing a secondary role in the sanctions regime."
Christopher Hill also wanted to avoid the possibility of Serbia supplying weapons to both sides. The retired diplomat says that the Americans' priority was to "exactly observe whether Serbia is working with Russia in any way. We have invested considerable resources to make sure we know the true state of affairs."
Finally, Hill says that there have been no sales of Serbian arms to Russia, "at least not on a scale worth mentioning."
Why now?
How come the old diplomat is now coming out of retirement to further "expose" Vučić's government, torn between the pro-Russian propaganda of his media and the obvious need to satisfy "Western partners" by helping Ukraine?
It is possible that, before the crucial elections in Serbia, Hill further pushes Serbia away from Russia. It was recently announced that the Americans will build the Đerdap 3 hydroelectric plant, and that they are also offering liquefied gas as a substitute for the Russian one.
Gas deliveries are the only major lever of pressure that Moscow has towards Belgrade.
Zelenski and Vučić are taking a certain political risk with this visit, but they expect that the profit will be greater.
Namely, as Frankfurter Algemaine writes, a joint drone factory in the middle of Serbia is planned, possibly with capital from the United Emirates.
Photo: FoNet/Instagram of the President of SerbiaMeeting with Moscow's displeasure: Aleksandar Vučić and Volodymyr Zelensky
Locations ready?
The paper also writes about the role of Oleksandr Kamishin, who is Zelensky's adviser in charge of connecting the Ukrainian dedicated industry with European partners. Kamišin, writes the newspaper, also plays a role "from the background" in Serbia.
"Allegedly, he has been to the Balkan country several times in the past years and with his team visited places where drones could be jointly produced. According to informed sources, the production of artillery ammunition was also a topic of discussion," the paper adds.
All this will not be published in the regime media in Serbia, which, with a few exceptions, have been extremely pro-Russian ever since the Informer announced in February 2022 that "Ukraine attacked Russia".
The latest polls confirm what was already known - the Naprednjak electorate is mostly pro-Russian.
Informed interlocutors of "Vremen" say that Vučić is clearly ready to be extremely cooperative on the foreign front in order to buy the West turning a blind eye in one or both eyes before the elections. That's why he embarks on this adventure, which in normal times would be breakneck.
Only in August: Save three thousand dinars on the annual subscription to the digital edition of "Vremena"! _Take advantage of the discount here and support independent journalism.
