Dacic on the UN Security Council session regarding the bombing: From the West, we receive the message "you would come in vain"

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic stated today in Moscow that it was still uncertain whether there would be a session of the UN Security Council on the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, but Serbia was preparing for it to highlight the illegal action that undermined the United Nations system.

The session of the UN Security Council was initiated by Russia, and Dacic told journalists after a meeting with his Russian counterpart that Sergey Lavrov informed him that there was an agreement among the great powers, the five permanent members of the UN, not to challenge each other when one of them requested a session. He says this has been the practice for the past five years.

However, he noted that, on the other hand, there are announcements from Western countries with the message – "you would come in vain," implying that the session probably won't take place.

"And that means they could initiate a vote on the procedure, but not now, rather just before the session itself... Whether these are mutual quibble - we cannot know how this will play out," Dacic said.

He emphasized that Serbia was certainly preparing for that session.

"We are not going there with any aim to arbitrate in the relations of great powers, but to speak about the bombing, aggression, our problems, the illegal action that undermined the United Nations system, and the civilians who suffered," the head of Serbian diplomacy emphasized.

Dacic also thanked Lavrov for Russia's firm and principled stance on Kosovo.

"For us, this is of vital importance, to know that in the UN Security Council, we have one reliable vote that will always be against the independence of Kosovo and Metohija, and for the question of Serbia's territorial integrity," Dacic said.