"There will be serious political consequences"/ The international arrest warrant against Putin, Vucic defends the Russian president

Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? has declared that issuing an international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin "will have serious political consequences" and will only serve to prolong the war in Ukraine.

The Russian president was the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday for alleged war crimes, but Vucic, who previously had close ties to Putin and has been a vocal opponent of international crimes courts of war, says this was a bad decision.

He told reporters in Belgrade that the arrest warrant "will have political consequences" and indicated that "there is a great reluctance to talk about peace and a possible ceasefire" in Ukraine.

"My question is, now that you have accused him of the biggest war crimes, who are you going to talk to," Vucic said, while adding: Do you really think it is possible to defeat Russia in one month, three months or one year?

Asked if the Russian leader would be arrested if he visited Serbia, Vucic said it was "a pointless question" because while the war continues, "Putin has nowhere to go."

Serbia has maintained a close relationship with Russia throughout the conflict and is the only European country that has not imposed international sanctions against Moscow.