DODIK: UNLIKE THE WEST, PUTIN AND I ADVOCATE FOR RESPECTING THE DAYTON AGREEMENT

MOSCOW, May 8 /SRNA/ – The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, stated that, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, he stands for the respect of the Dayton Peace Accords—a pact the West does not honor, just as it failed to uphold the Minsk agreements.

"President Putin has never forgotten his friendship toward us, and that is what sustains and maintains us. Russia guaranteed the Dayton Agreement and insists on its observance, and that is exactly what I am calling for," Dodik said in a lecture to young people in Moscow. Dodik emphasized that what the West grants to others in the Balkans, it refuses to the Serbs in Republika Srpska, which he described as political hypocrisy. "When I point this out, I am labeled politically incorrect, an incarnation of evil—simply for defending an international agreement. What matters is Russia’s principled stance, that of President Putin, and of your diplomats who in the UN precisely uphold the letter of that international agreement," Dodik said. He stressed that Republika Srpska only needs a principled approach to break the cycle of wrongdoing, and he reminded the audience that the West previously persecuted many Serbian leaders before him. Dodik noted that Republika Srpska’s representatives in BiH institutions never allowed the country to impose sanctions on Russia. The President of Republika Srpska also pointed out the vast Russophobia entrenched in Western society. "But the world is changing—today you see that President Putin speaks with /U.S. President Donald/ Trump," Dodik said, expressing his conviction that Russia will not permit another agreement that the West will ignore, nor will it allow imposed solutions.