VIENNA, October 21. /TASS/. Attempts are being made to embroil Western Balkan countries into arms deliveries to Ukraine via gray-market schemes bypassing decisions made by the legitimate national authorities, a high-ranking Russian diplomat said.
"They continue to embroil West Balkans into delivering weapons to the Kiev regime, with the use of their arsenals and defense production capacities, including through various gray schemes," said Yulia Zhdanova, the head of the Russian delegation at the negotiations in Vienna on military security and arms control.
During the 25th meeting of the commission, established under the Dayton Agreement, the Russian diplomat said that such actions are unacceptable, and warned Western countries against turning the Balkans into an arena for geopolitical confrontation.
In her view, the EU and NATO have been trying to push Russia and China out of the region and to prevent Balkan nations from further cooperation with Moscow and Beijing.
Chairman of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats Milorad Dodik told TASS on May 13 that Vladimir Zelensky had attempted to purchase $400 million worth of weapons from Bosnian Muslims. Dodik denied weapons from Republika Srpska are in Ukraine, saying that the government in Banja Luka has blocked every opportunity for such deliveries.