On April 14, Russia spoke out about Serbia's refusal to buy Russian fighter jets.
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| A Rafale multirole fighter jet manufactured by France's Dassault Aviation. (Source: The Defense Post) |
On April 14, the British daily Financial Times reported that Serbia refused to buy Russian fighters due to the conflict in Ukraine and international sanctions.
“Due to the geopolitical situation, we cannot buy anything from Russia now, even if we wanted to,” an unnamed Serbian official confirmed.
Instead, Serbia has decided to order Rafale fighter jets made by France's Dassault Aviation group and has agreed on 90% of the terms of the deal.
Belgrade will receive 12 Rafale multirole fighters in a contract worth an estimated 3 billion euros ($3.26 billion), making it the largest arms deal in Serbia’s history.
On the same day, reacting to the news, First Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the State Duma (Lower House) of Russia Alexei Chepa expressed sympathy for Serbia's decision and emphasized that Belgrade's move would not affect bilateral relations.
“We understand that Serbia intends to buy these fighters to partly solve its strategic problems. However, given that it is under great pressure and for obvious reasons there are many threats against Belgrade, Serbia would lose a lot if it signed a contract with Russia,” he said.
Source
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