Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that Serbia has stopped the export of ammunition.
When asked by reporters whether Serbia had chosen a side in the Israeli-Iranian conflict by exporting ammunition to Israel, Vučić said that the state had suspended all exports and was only sending ammunition to its own barracks.
"We are not exporting anything now. We have stopped everything now and there must be special and specific decisions if anything is going to work. So we will see how and what we will do next, in accordance with the interests of Serbia. The most important state bodies will be informed about this," Vučić said.
After a session of the expanded collegium of the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Vučić assessed that it was "one thing" that Serbia accepted the export of ammunition to that country after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
"And the situation is different today. We have now stopped literally everything and are sending it to our army," he added.
A few hours after Vučić's statement, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement stating that "the export of weapons and military equipment produced in the Republic of Serbia is being suspended" in accordance with the instructions of the President of Serbia.
The statement states that in the future, for the export of weapons and military equipment produced in defense industry factories, "in addition to the consent of other competent ministries and agencies, the consent of the National Security Council will also be required."
Precise data on what weapons and military equipment Serbia exports to Israel and other countries and in what quantities are not publicly available, and in recent years the relevant ministry has not published annual reports on issued export licenses on its website.
Addressing criticism over arms exports, Vučić said that he is concerned about the security of the state, but also about workers in the military industry, where the ammunition that Serbia exported abroad is produced.
He also asked "who is the permitted end user", that is, the end user of weapons and military equipment.
"I can't go to Asia, I can't go to Africa, I can't go to Europe, I can't go to America. Where do you want us to export ammunition to, Antarctica?" he asked.
"Since we saw it, it appeared in Ukraine (ammunition), it appeared from both sides, both sides are complaining. If I could change something, I can only do it this way - to say, all ammunition for a while only in our barracks," he stressed.
Official Belgrade has repeatedly denied that Serbia directly exports weapons to Ukraine or Russia, stating that it cannot influence whether Serbian weapons from third countries end up on the Ukrainian front.
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Speaking about the conflict between Israel and Iran, Vučić said that Serbia wants peace in the Near and Middle East.
"We consider both Israel and Iran to be friendly countries," he added.
Vucic also said that he is in contact with the presidents of Iran and Israel.
He also assessed that Serbia wants the closest relationship and strategic partnership with the US, but that "there is no doubt that they violated international law" by attacking targets in Iran.
On June 13, Israel launched an attack on Iran and hit multiple sites, including a nuclear facility and residential areas in Tehran, killing a number of senior commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), nuclear scientists, and civilians.
Iran then retaliated by launching drones and ballistic missiles at military centers and air bases in Israel.
The US became involved in the conflict on June 22. President Donald Trump said that US bombers had attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran's foreign minister has said that after the US attacks, diplomacy is no longer an option.
According to data from the Iranian Ministry of Health, at least 430 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the beginning of the conflict.
In Israel, according to official figures, at least 24 people were killed in Iranian attacks.
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