Speaking at the public forum "War in Ukraine - what does Serbian neutrality mean," organized by the information and political portals "Sve o Srpskoj" and "Fakti," held in Belgrade, BiH Presidency member Milorad Dodik said he will not agree to sanctions against Russia, regardless of the consequences.

Yet, he agreed that the Bosnian Republika Srpska (RS) entity cannot do everything alone and that the authorities of the Serb-dominated entity are searching for allies, which is difficult for them in the West.

“I talked to (US Western Balkans envoy) Gabriel Escobar, who told me ‘you have to accept this,’ I tell him, ‘I can't, it's not according to the Constitution.’ He tells me ‘you have to follow our policies,” stated Dodik.

At the end of their conversation, Dodik said Escobar told him “Then we have a problem.”

“This is how the Germans behave, the British who are trying to achieve a big come back. We lack composure. We have to take shelter from the great wind of the storm that is going, in some lee, but they won’t allow it. Some congressmen will arrive in Sarajevo tomorrow. What to expect from the people who openly say they are anti-Russians, and then there is a small RS that refuses to impose sanctions on Russia. What can we impose? Bosnia is a country of absurdity,” Dodik said.

Dodik added that he and “they” (the RS authorities) were classified as pro-Russians, reiterating that he will not impose sanctions.

“I have met with Putin several times, he is one of the most practical, well-meaning people in all conversations. I never received a request from Russia, nothing. I cannot and will not, regardless of what some say, not talk about it publicly, nor give up cooperation with the Russians. In my opinion, the Russians were challenged to do that, this is too late. As far as the issue of Ukraine's solution is concerned, it’s the same as ‘they’ imposed it on us to resolve the issues of the former Yugoslavia. Putin is a great president of a great nation, a great state. I remember what Russia was like before Putin, poor, and what it is like today,” BiH Presidency member Dodik said.

He concluded by saying “whatever westerners think they should do, let them do it – we – this government (RS) will not impose sanctions on Russia.”