The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučič, said that “Belgrade’s position in relation to Moscow will be more difficult” after the death of the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. However, the Serbian leader rejected the possibility of imposing sanctions on Russia.

Vučič told Prva television on February 18 that he does not want to talk about what happened to Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison, because he said “I am not an investigative body.”

“I am no wiser than everyone else in the world who knows everything in advance. This belongs to political analysts, but not to a state president. But the position will be more difficult for us, I have no doubt”, said Vučič.

He emphasized that Navalny’s death “has fueled a new fire”, adding that “it is tragic when a young person loses his life”.

The Serbian president also answered why, while attending the Munich Security Conference on February 16, when the news of Navalny’s death was announced, he did not applaud when the Kremlin critic’s wife, Yulia, gave a speech.

“Suddenly, a woman sat next to me and I had no idea who she was,” Vučič said.

After that, according to him, the organizers of the Munich Conference called him on stage and introduced him.

“Only then did I realize who the woman was who was sitting next to me. I would have expressed my condolences, but I would have been wrong, because only a few minutes later, she said that we shouldn’t have expressed my condolences,” Vučič said.

Vučič said he goes to international meetings to fight for his country, adding that he expects “there will be more pressure on Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia.”

Serbia has good relations with Russia and despite the calls of the international factor to impose sanctions on Moscow because of the war in Ukraine, Belgrade has refused to sanction Russia.