Serbia is a Russian ally and will never impose sanctions against Moscow or join NATO, the Balkan nation’s deputy prime minister said Wednesday as he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The remarks by Aleksandar Vulin, a former intelligence chief who is under U.S. sanctions, reflect persistent close relations between Belgrade and Moscow despite Serbia’s proclaimed bid to join the European Union.

“It’s a great honor for me to have the privilege to talk to you,” Vulin told Putin. “Please believe me when I say it is a great encouragement for all Serbs, wherever they may live.”

Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine though it has condemned Moscow’s aggression. Populist President Aleksandar Vučić has said that imposing the sanctions wasn’t in Serbia’s national interest.

“Serbia is not only a strategic partner of Russia, Serbia is also Russia’s ally,” Vulin said. “This is why pressure on us by the West is huge.”

Vulin’s meeting with Putin in Russia’s far-eastern city of Vladivostok came just days after French President Emmanuel Macron visited Serbia when Belgrade signed an agreement to buy French Rafale fighter jets, a move that was seen as possible a shift away from Moscow. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier also visited Belgrade for the signing of a tentative EU deal with Serbia on raw materials needed in green transition.

The two met in Vladivostok on the sidelines of an economic forum designed to attract foreign investment and showcase Russia to them. Greeting Vulin as the two sat down for talks, Putin expressed hope that Serbia’s deputy prime minister will be able to “take a close look and evaluate the possibilities of cooperation with such a large and promising region” as Russia’s far east.

Vulin told Putin that Serbia’s close ties with Russia will continue in the future.

“Serbia led by Aleksandar Vučić is a Serbia that will never become a member of NATO, which will never impose sanctions against the Russian Federation and which will never allow its territory to be used for any anti-Russian actions,” he said.

“Serbia has not become and will not become part of anti-Russian hysteria,” Vulin said.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Vulin last July, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office and aiding Russia’s influence in the volatile Balkans.

Vulin has received two medals of honor from Russia.

The U.S. sanctions against individuals and companies in the Balkans are designed to counter attempts to undermine peace and stability in the volatile region and Russia’s “malign” influence.

The West has stepped up efforts to lure the troubled region into its fold, fearing that Russia could stir unrest to avert attention from the war in Ukraine. The Balkans went through multiple wars in the 1990s, and tensions still persist.

(AP)