According to a top-secret Pentagon document, Serbia, the only European nation to refuse to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine, has agreed to or has already transferred armaments to Kiev.
The document is a summary of European governments’ reactions to Ukraine’s demands for military instruction and “lethal aid,” or weapons, and were one of many top-secret papers that have recently been leaked online in what may be the worst security breach the US has had in years.
In a chart labelled “Europe|Response to Ongoing Russia-Ukraine Conflict,” 38 European governments are included along with their “assessed positions” in response to Ukraine’s calls for military aid.
The graph demonstrated that Serbia had agreed to offer deadly aid or had already sent it, but had declined to train Ukrainian forces. Additionally, it stated that Serbia had the political will and military capacity to give Ukraine weapons in the future.
The circulation of this material to foreign intelligence services and militaries is forbidden because it is marked Secret and NOFORN. It is inscribed with the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s seal and bears the date March 2.
Despite the nation’s close historical, economic, and cultural links to Russia, Vucic’s administration has declared itself neutral in the conflict in Ukraine.”
According to Janusz Bugajski, a specialist on Eastern Europe at the Jamestown Foundation, a foreign policy think tank, “if this document is accurate, it either shows Vucic’s dishonesty towards Russia or he’s under enormous pressure from Washington to deliver weapons to Ukraine.”
While the Pentagon evaluates the harm done to American national security, the Justice Department is looking into the leak.
The answer to Ukraine’s demands for assistance was broken down into four categories by the Pentagon: nations that had pledged to offer training and deadly aid; nations that had already provided training, lethal aid, or both; nations with the military capability and the political will to.”
While the Pentagon evaluates the harm done to American national security, the Justice Department is looking into the leak.
The answer to Ukraine’s demands for assistance was broken down into four categories by the Pentagon: nations that had pledged to offer training and deadly aid; nations that had already provided training, lethal aid, or both; nations with the military capability and the political will “to provide future lethal aid.”
The only two nations with “No” responses in each of the four categories were Austria and Malta.
The chart’s release comes little over a month after documents supposedly showing the shipping of 122mm Grad ground-to-ground rockets by a Serbian armaments manufacturer to Kyiv in November were uploaded in a pro-Russian channel on the global messaging app Telegram. A cargo manifest and an end-user certificate from the Ukrainian government were among the papers.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, was quoted by the state-run TASS news agency as adding that Moscow claimed to have requested a formal explanation of the purported deliveries from Belgrade in March.
During a visit to Qatar on March 5, he declared, “We didn’t export any weapons or ammunition to Russia or Ukraine.”
The legitimacy of the cargo documents that was provided on Telegram could not be independently verified by Reuters.
Vucic has attempted to strike a balance between his desire to join the European Union and his tight connections with Moscow ever since the war broke out in February of last year.
But out of the 44 nations in Europe, Serbia is the only one who has not imposed sanctions on Russia.
The Valjevo-based arm maker Krusik Corp. denied giving Ukraine any rockets or other weapons. The claims were referred to by Vucic as “a notorious lie.”
