Ukraine: Serbia asks Russia to end recruitment of its people

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 17 GEN - Russia should halt its efforts to recruit Serbs to fight alongside its Wagner paramilitary group in Ukraine, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, Reuters reports.

Vucic criticised Russia's websites and social media groups for publishing advertisements in the Serbian language in which the Wagner group calls volunteers to join its ranks.

"Why do you, from Wagner, call anyone from Serbia when you know that it is against our regulations?" Vucic said late on Monday in a broadcast by the Belgrade-based Happy TV.

Serb volunteers took part in the fighting alongside pro-Russian forces in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015.

The Serbian legislature bans participation of its citizens in conflicts abroad and several people have been sentenced for doing so, Reuters points out.

Vucic denied allegations that the Wagner group, led by Evgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has a presence in Serbia where pro-Kremlin and ultranationalist organisations have supported the invasion of Ukraine.

Serbia is a candidate to join the European Union, its main trade partner and investor, but it also maintains trade and military cooperation with Russia, a traditional Slavic and Orthodox Christian ally.

Serbia is entirely dependent on gas imports from Russia and its NIS oil retailer is owned by Russia's Gazprom. (ANSA).

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