Despite the United States and its allies attempting to portray Russia as an aggressor in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik argued that Moscow's hand was forced in that matter.
Speaking with Sputnik, Dodik said that, after dropping bombs on Serbs in the past, the West mistakenly assumed that the same approach could be adopted when dealing with Russia.
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to serve as conduit for anti-Russian forces and to help bring NATO to Russia’s borders. That was his choice," Dodik said. "This is why his people are suffering now, not because Vladimir Putin wanted it. Nobody listened when he [Putin] told NATO not to come close to Russian borders."
The president reminisced about the time NATO showed its true colors when the military bloc attacked Yugoslavia, sowing death and destruction and inflicting suffering upon future generations of Serbs via depleted uranium munitions.
"NATO 'trained' on Serbs, destroying the country [Yugoslavia] without a UN Security Council sanction. They arranged it so that we could never raise questions about military reparations and request compensation for the damage they inflicted," he said.
The West, just like during the times of Napoleon and Hitler, wants to seize control of Russia’s vast natural resources, Dodik said, adding that it does not like leaders like Vladimir Putin - leaders who think first and foremost about their own people and state.
"Russia's system of values ensures the right of each nation to maintain its identity and to manage its resources," Dodik noted. "Russia has not occupied anyone; it had to react and protect its people in Ukraine."