Former Serbian President Vučić says in an interview it would be a ‘miracle’ if a world war does not begin as Europe rearms

Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said it would be a “miracle” if a world war did not begin, pointing to Europe’s military buildup and warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be assumed to be bluffing about nuclear weapons.

Vučić made the remarks in an interview with Russian journalist Ksenia Sobchak for her YouTube channel Ostorozhno: Sobchak, published Tuesday, October 20.

“If you don’t see how Europe is arming itself, then you’re simply pretending not to see it,” Vučić said. Comparing the situation to Chekhov’s principle that a gun introduced early in a play will eventually be fired, he described Europe’s rearmament as dramatic. Asked directly about a world war, he said: “It will be a miracle if it doesn’t begin. I would be the happiest man in the world if I were wrong. But I’m afraid I’m not wrong.”

Vučić also said Putin was “not bluffing” about nuclear weapons. He argued that while Putin would not use them without cause, Russia would respond with nuclear weapons in the event of what he described as a direct attack by the U.S., Europe or Britain. The statement was Vučić’s assessment of how Moscow would respond, not an announced Russian policy.

On Serbia’s foreign policy, Vučić said the country remained on its European path while insisting it would not impose sanctions on Russia. He also described Serbia as genuinely militarily neutral, noting that it is surrounded largely by NATO members and saying that was why Belgrade was strengthening its armed forces.

Vučić said Serbia had preserved what he called the values of its traditional society and rejected the idea that Belgrade was balancing between competing camps. “Our only chair is Serbia,” he said.