Kremlin comments on Serbia’s UN ‘mistake’

Belgrade supported a Kiev-endorsed resolution which condemns Russia

Moscow has accepted Belgrade's explanation for mistakenly voting in favor of an anti-Russian resolution on Ukraine at the UN on Monday, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Serbia has had traditionally close ties with Russia.

Peskov was responding to questions about Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s apology for the error, attributing it to being “tired and overwhelmed.”

“We have certainly heard [the explanation] and certainly accepted it. Indeed, technical mistakes happen. And of course, we appreciate such a prompt reaction from the head of state,” Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

Two competing resolutions on Ukraine were submitted to mark the 3rd year of the conflict, one initiated by Kiev and its EU backers, which condemned Russia.

The other, US-backed text, which avoided branding Russia as an aggressor and called for a “swift end” to the conflict, was later tabled at the UN Security Council, where it passed with 10 votes in favor, with backing from Moscow and Washington and five abstentions from European members.

READ MORE: Serbia voted for anti-Russian UN resolution ‘by mistake’ – president

“It is clear that a militarizing Europe is the only player internationally which wants the war to continue,” Russia’s United Nations representative Vassily Nebenzia said on Monday. The envoy acknowledged constructive shifts in the US position on the Ukraine conflict and described the resolution as the first attempt to introduce a forward-looking, pragmatic UN Security Council document.