Dodik reports to Vladimir Putin: We are being pressured to impose sanctions

The ultra-nationalist president of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik met yesterday with the president of the Russian Federation, Valdimir Putin. He has told the Russian leader that he believes that "Russia was forced to undertake a military operation in Ukraine." "We think that the Russian Federation, which persistently fought for its security framework and tried to give those guarantees before, was simply forced in connection with this military operation," said Dodik. After the Russian aggression in Ukraine, Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia, while Bosnia and Herzegovina together with Serbia; are among the few European countries that have not joined these sanctions. To prevent BiH from imposing sanctions on Russia, the President of the RS, Dodik, helped by not allowing such a decision to be made. For this action he boasted to the Russian president, but he also complained to Putin that as a reaction to this decision he is facing international pressure. "We did not allow a formal decision to be taken on sanctions against the Russian Federation and for this reason we were exposed to various forms of pressure from our Western partners in the form of sanctions and the suspension of some projects and programs. But we decided not to simply become part of the hysteria that is being created, but to give a chance to solve the issue at the level of the Russian Federation and Ukraine", he emphasized. Dodik said that "in RS they understand that Russia is in conflict with the West and not with Ukraine". Among other things, he also complained about the "violation of the Dayton Agreement (1995)" in BiH, stating that "RS is exposed to various demands for the destruction of the Dayton Agreement".