"President Aleksandar Vucic promised to recite part of the Russian classic novel 'Eugene Onegin' if the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) lifts its sanctions against NIS. "We hope for a positive decision from the United States. Do I fully believe that will happen? I hope so, but I am not certain," Vucic said during his annual end of year press conference on Tuesday. "I can't sing, but I used to recite; I even knew Tatiana's letter to Onegin and Onegin's letter to Tatiana by heart, and in Russian. If they grant us the operating licence, I'll be ready to recite at least part of it so that people can be entertained a bit and have a laugh at my expense," he added. In October, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Russian-owned refineries as part of efforts to pressure Moscow over its war in Ukraine. The sanctions have forced NIS to halt petroleum production at Serbia's largest refinery in Pancevo. An OFAC license would allow the sale of NIS - mostly owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft - to Hungary's MOL, bypassing the restrictions. Vucic commented on the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state residence, describing it as 'nothing new'. "Let me remind you that Milosevic was targeted in 1999 by others who believed they had the right to strike whomever they wanted. This is nothing new; it didn't start today or yesterday. It's all coming from the same kind of playbook," he said.  Peace talks are ongoing between the US and Russian and US and Ukrainian sides - although a reported drone attack on Vladimir Putin's state residence in Novgorod on Sunday night saw a 'very angry' response from US President Donald Trump.  Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitri Peskov slammed the attack as an 'act of terrorism' aimed at derailing peace talks. Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky suggested the strikes were 'lies'.  Addressing Serbia's national policy in the upcoming year, Vucic affirmed that his country will continue to adhere to the 'policy of military neutrality'. "We are living in times that are not easy to predict," he stressed. "I am almost certain that tensions will rise in other parts of our planet as well. That is why it is important that, regardless of all the influences we are under and will be exposed to, we preserve our stability, maintain peace, and seek to improve cooperation with all different actors around the world." The statement follows Vucic's warnings about the possibility of an attack on Serbia from the 'unnatural and indecent' military alliances, citing escalating tensions between Russia and Europe linked to the conflict in Ukraine."