FM: Serbia "maintains principled position on Ukraine"

FM: Serbia "maintains principled position on Ukraine"

BELGRADE -- Serbia is maintaining a principled position on the Ukrainian crisis and respects the territorial integrity of all UN member states, Ivica Dačić has said.

"We cannot impose restrictive measures on the Russian Federation," the first deputy prime minister and foreign minister told reporters at the Foreign Ministry on Sunday.

He was responding to a question about whether Serbia was "under pressure from the West to impose sanctions on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis."

Serbia will have to align its policy with that of the EU once it becomes an EU member, Dačić said.

"Serbia is not an EU member - if we were ready, we would already be one - and I also do not see unity among all European countries on that issue," Dačić said.

He said that Serbia has a constructive position and that there is no need to pressure it.

"We know what we want and what we do not want, as well as what we have and do not have to do," Dačić said, noting that it is "considered normal for Western countries to have excellent relations with Russia and China, while it is problematic for Serbia to have good relations with them."

Dačić also said that he has instructed Foreign Ministry officials to respect diplomatic reciprocity, and that the treatment of foreign diplomats in Serbia should reflect the treatment of Serbian diplomats in their respective countries.

"In some countries, our embassies cannot even get parking spots, and they want round-the-clock security here," Dačić said.

He also said that Serbia is under pressure aimed at preventing it from blocking Kosovo's admission to international organizations such as...