Serbia, a rare country in Europe that has refused to sanction Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, has agreed to supply weapons to Kiev or has already sent them, according to a classified Pentagon document, Reuters reported on April 12.
The document seen by Reuters, a summary of European governments' responses to Ukraine's requests for military training and "lethal aid" or weapons, is among dozens of classified documents released online in recent weeks in what it says could be the most serious disclosure of U.S. secrets of recent years.
What does the document say?
Entitled "Europe - Response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict", the document in chart form lists the "estimated positions" of 38 European governments in response to Ukraine's requests for military aid.
The chart stated that Serbia has refused to provide training to Ukrainian forces, but has pledged to send lethal aid or has already delivered it. Also, that Serbia has the political will and military ability to provide weapons to Ukraine in the future.
The document is marked "Secret" and NOFORN, which prohibits distribution to foreign intelligence services and the military. It is dated March 2, and is stamped with the seal of the office of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Reuters could not independently confirm the document's authenticity.
The office of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and the Ukrainian embassy did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The Pentagon also did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the document's reference to Serbia and has previously declined to comment on any of the leaked documents.
The government, led by Vučić, has advocated neutrality in the war in Ukraine, despite the country's deep historical, economic and cultural ties to Russia.
"If this document is true, it either shows Vučić's duplicity in relation to Russia or he is under enormous pressure from Washington to deliver weapons to Ukraine," Janusz Bugajski, an Eastern Europe expert at the Jamestown Foundation, a foreign policy institute, told Reuters.
The Justice Department is investigating the leak, while the Pentagon is assessing the damage to US national security.
The Pentagon table, Reuters added, divided responses to Ukraine's aid requests into four categories: countries that pledged to provide training and lethal assistance; countries that have already provided training, lethal assistance, or both; countries with the military capability and political will "to provide future lethal assistance."
Austria and Malta were the only two countries with "No" in all four categories.
The Minister of Defense claims that Serbia is not arming Ukraine
Serbian Defense Minister Miloš Vučević told the Tanjug agency that "Serbia has not, nor will it, sell weapons to the Ukrainian or Russian side, nor to the countries surrounding that conflict."
The Ministry of Defense of Serbia did not respond to Radio Free Europe's inquiry.
"Someone's goal is obviously to destabilize our country and drag it into a conflict in which we will not participate. We consistently stick to our established policy," Vučević told Tanjug.
The minister noted that for the umpteenth time, the lie that Serbia sells weapons to Ukraine has been published.
"We have denied those falsehoods more than ten times, and here we are, we will do it again. Serbia has not, nor will it, sell weapons to the Ukrainian or Russian side, nor to the countries surrounding that conflict," said Vucevic.
The minister also stated that Serbia sells weapons to third parties, which are far from the conflict and have nothing to do with it.
"There is always the possibility that some weapon will somehow magically be found on the territory of the conflict, but that has absolutely nothing to do with Serbia. It is a question for those countries that do not respect international norms, contractual clauses and business practices. I repeat, Serbia did not send arms to Ukraine and everything published on that topic are untrue speculations," Vucevic said.
"Krusik" denied the deliveries in March
The release of the chart comes just over a month after documents posted on a pro-Russian channel on the global messaging app Telegram allegedly showed the delivery of Serbian Grad 122mm rockets to Kiev in November.
The documents included a shipment manifest and a Ukrainian government end-user certificate.
Moscow announced in March that it had asked Belgrade for an official explanation of the alleged deliveries, the state news agency TASS reported, citing the statement of the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.
Arms manufacturer Krušik from Valjevo denied that he had sent rockets or other weapons to Ukraine. Vučić called those allegations "notorious lies".
"We have not exported any weapons or ammunition to Russia or Ukraine," he said during a visit to Qatar on March 5.
Reuters said it could not independently confirm the authenticity of the shipment documentation posted on Telegram.
Since the start of the war in February last year, Vučić has tried to balance close ties with Moscow with the goal of joining the European Union.
Serbia is the only one among 44 countries in Europe that rejects sanctions against Russia.
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