Ed Note: If this piece of news proves to be accurate, this a very significant telltale about the real state of affairs as far as Russia’s standing up to the West. Every hopeful pundit in support of Russia is focused on counting the Ukrainian villages taken by the Russians, and already predicting the winner, but why would Serbia give in and throw in the towel after so many decades of sacrifice since the late 1980s? Is it because, in the grand bargain foreseen between Trump and Putin, the latter may have secured a win in Ukraine as a face-saving token, while retreating in all other spheres?
by Andrew Korybko via Korybko Substack
This could easily lead to a more profound pivot that undoes decades of strategic ties with Russia in just a few years.
Chief of the Serbian General Staff General Milan Mojsilovic explained his country’s military calculations in light of last summer’s multibillion-dollar Rafale warplane deal and Western sanctions against Russia in a recent interview with local media. According to him, the first was “primarily based on a tactical study” that allegedly concluded that this was the best option for ensuring his nation’s security needs, which entails “complex preparations” with France that informally amount to a pro-Western military pivot.
After answering the question about that deal, he was then asked about the effect that Western sanctions have had on military-technical cooperation with Moscow, to which he responded by revealing that “We terminated some contracts and postponed some” since “the delivery of weapons” from Russia “is practically impossible at the moment.” Paired with his previous answer, it becomes clear that Serbia’s pro-Western military pivot is being carried out under sanctions duress, not purely anti-Russian reasons.
To be sure, Serbia had already been leaning towards the West even before last summer’s multibillion-dollar deal as evidenced by it voting against Russia on Ukraine at the UNGA and reportedly even arming Kiev through indirect means, but Mojsilovic’s revelation of terminated and postponed military deals takes this to an altogether different level. Before discussing the potential consequences, the reader should review these background briefings about Serbia’s clumsy “balancing act”:
Read more here
