EU postpones decision on Russian oil ban, says Serbia president

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - The EU has postponed a decision to ban Russian oil imports until December, Serbia's president said on Thursday.

"The decision on oil was postponed until Dec. 1," Aleksandar Vucic said at a European summit in the Czech Republic.

Vucic also took aim at Croatia, which on Wednesday acted to include Serbia in an EU ban on Russian oil imports from which Belgrade was originally to be exempt.

"There is no rational explanation for the Croatian intervention, except for my intention to go to Jasenovac (memorial)," he said, referring to the site of the largest World War II concentration camp in Croatia, which Zagreb barred the Serbian president from visiting in July, triggering a diplomatic spat.

EU member countries voted on Wednesday on the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, which was also aimed at limiting the price of oil that Russia exports to third countries outside the bloc.

During Thursday's European Political Community summit in Prague, Vucic had separate meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emanuel Macron.