Vucic Says Putin Not Bluffing When Speaking About Defending Russia From Nuclear Threats

Vucic Says Putin Not Bluffing When Speaking About Defending Russia From Nuclear Threats

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2022) Serbian President Alexander Vucic said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not bluff speaking about defending Russia against nuclear threats by all means.

"As the President of Serbia I can only say that we hope peace might prevail, and everybody will do (their) best to find a compromising solution because it's much better than to wait for the other side's defeat.�And because I met President Putin many times, I don't believe that he's bluffing, as he said," Vucic said in an interview with the Newsmax broadcaster during his trip to the UN General Assembly in New York.

Earlier on Wednesday, Putin addressed the nation, saying that the West had started to use "nuclear blackmail" against Russia and announced a partial mobilization of the country's armed forces, including calling up 300,000 reservists to hold the 1,000-kilometer (621 miles) long line of contact with Ukrainian forces in Russian-controlled territories.

Putin said the partial mobilization is in support of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as they hold referenda on accession to the Russian Federation. Russia's special military operation in Ukraine was launched on February 24 after the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.