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Serbia Halts Arms Exports After Moscow’s Warning Amid Ukrainian Supply Scandal

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Serbia Halts Arms Exports After Moscow's Warning Amid Ukrainian Supply Scandal

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Belgrade has abruptly suspended all military exports following a thinly veiled warning from Moscow over Serbian weapons indirectly reaching Ukrainian forces through NATO intermediaries. The move has sparked internal backlash, with workers at Serbia’s defense plants threatening protests over lost contracts, while Russia remains skeptical of Belgrade’s assurances.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced a complete halt to ammunition exports, redirecting all production to domestic military stockpiles. “Everything we produce now goes exclusively to our army’s needs,” he declared, adding that future sales would require approval from Serbia’s National Security Council. This is a sharp departure from previous practices where export permits were routinely issued by ministers.

The decision came just hours after Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) publicly accused Serbian arms firms of supplying ammunition components to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, where they were assembled and shipped to Ukraine. The SVR noted that Serbian-made mortar rounds had been documented on Ukrainian battlefields since 2023. LINK

While Serbia claims ignorance of where its weapons ultimately end up, evidence suggests a well-established NATO-backed pipeline. Bulgarian and Czech factories have served as intermediaries, refurbishing Serbian components before shipping them to Ukraine. Similar schemes have been reported in Slovakia, where Prime Minister Robert Fico, despite blocking EU sanctions on Russia, allows private arms firms to supply Kyiv.

Adding to the hypocrisy, Slovakia has also facilitated Ukrainian fuel imports derived from Russian oil while profiting from transit fees on Russian gas shipments to Europe.

Though Vučić previously defended arms sales as vital for Serbia’s economy—employing 150,000 people in defense sectors—he now faces pressure from both Moscow and domestic industry. “They’re pushing me to send shipments because contracts are signed,” he admitted. “Some report to the Americans, others to the Russians—but no one thinks about Serbia.” The export ban has triggered unrest in Serbia’s defense sector, with workers at state-owned arms plants warning of July protests to demand a resumption of sales. The industry, a key economic lifeline, fears collapse without foreign buyers.

Meanwhile, SVR Director Sergei Naryshkin made it clear that Moscow would “verify” Serbia’s compliance rather than take promises at face value. The SVR’s statement lamented the erosion of historic Slavic and Orthodox solidarity, accusing Belgrade of prioritizing profit over principle.

Russia’s message is clear: arms sales to NATO intermediaries equate to indirect support for Ukraine. Whether Serbia’s export freeze holds, or collapses under domestic and Western pressure, will reveal just how far Belgrade is willing to go to preserve its relationship with Moscow.

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Dr. Gerome Nugunte, Africa

any non white (specially africans and asians) would be beaten to death by the white supremacists of the following organizations: ss aidar, ss kraken, wolfsangel (aka azov), waffen ss nachtigall (who were in kursk killing civilians), leibstandarte adolf hitler, right sektor – all of them hate africans and asians, and all of them are leading the ukrainian government and military. all of them funded by the us and eu tax payers aka sukers

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Ramses

i think you’re having an idea russia would be a better country with africans and asians in it. and anyone talking against your idea is a nazi like vladolf, right?

Last edited 4 hours ago by Ramses
Dunk

russia supplies gas to serbia at much reduced rates while serbia sells arms to ukraine -step#1 – cut off their gas supply i have no time for backstabbers . they are acting like turkey -one foot in each camp -do not trust people or countries that act that way.

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Ramses

so by that statement any other country should throw you out to russia, why would they like to have a ghey boy backstabber in their country?

Cromwell

indeed they forgot who bombed them for 78 days, i have had doubts about some of them for years ever since they turned milosovic over to a nato kangeroo court for defending the country.

Dunk

exactly cromwell trust has got to be earned .

Dstroj

i would say that both vucic and fico have forgotten some critical lessons of ww2, what a shame…

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Piccolo Giovannino

putin is too nice. russia could have made more gains in ukraine during the 12 day war.

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inpeacetiktoknow

hehe russia is billy no mates.

R. Ambrose Raven

serbia would do better to return to its socialist period. as an example, from 1860 to 1890 when public investment in australia’s colonies was highest as a proportion of all investment, the colonies’ income per head was among the highest in the world. nor have i read anyone claiming that russia today is richer than when it was the rsfsr, or serbia likewise after yugoslavia. always an option to remind its leaders.

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the narrative

caught robbing the cookie jar ? again ? bribery is a sin

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