Serbia rejects Western calls to join sanctions on Russia

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia has rejected calls from the European Union and the U.S. to join sanctions against Russia, citing its national interests, although its autocratic president did say that Moscow’s assault on Ukraine is against international law. With the move, Serbia remained a rare European state — like Russian ally Belarus — not to join a call for Western sanctions introduced against Moscow for its invasion of a sovereign European state. “Serbia respects the norms of the international law,” President Aleksandar Vucic said Thursday. “But Serbia also understands its own interests.”