Serbian President to Ask for Talk with Putin Over New US Sanctions

On January 15, that is, even before the term of the current President Joe Biden expires, the US authorities intend to introduce direct sanctions against the Serbian oil and gas company NIS (Naftna industrija Srbije), 56.15% of whose shares belong to the Russian Gazprom Neft and Gazprom.

These sanctions may come into force as early as March 15. This was announced at a meeting of the Serbian government by the country's President Aleksandar Vucic. According to him, such a decision will lead to serious problems for Serbia's oil refining and petrochemical enterprises.

In this regard, Vucic intends to travel to the United States to arrive in Washington around January 20 (the day Donald Trump is scheduled to take office as US President ).

"We fought for our voice to be heard by the new American administration, from which I have high expectations," Vucic said. According to him, he expects serious changes from Trump that will bring joy to the citizens of Serbia. And after it becomes clear what to expect from the new US authorities, Vucic intends to talk to the Russian president again.

"I will talk to President Putin, I will ask for a conversation on January 25-27, around Saint Sava (the saint's day is celebrated in Serbia on January 27 - ), when I will see what my negotiations with the new American administration have led to, whether we have a chance or no chance at all to change the situation," Vucic said, as reported by the Tanjug agency.

The Serbian President instructed the government to prepare all the data necessary for holding talks with Putin. Vucic recalled that for Serbia, which consumes 13.5-14.5 million cubic meters of gas daily, RUSSIA has always been a reliable partner, and therefore the option of forcibly seizing the controlling stake in NIS (currently, the Serbian authorities own 29.87% of the company's shares) is an extreme case. "Absolutely the last option, if we know that otherwise we will not survive," Vucic assessed the situation, admitting that more than half of the government is in favor of this option.

The press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov has already told TASS that an agreement on a conversation between Putin and Vucic could be reached in the shortest possible time. "Conversations with our friends and partners at the highest and other levels are coordinated as quickly as possible," Peskov said.