Vucic declared Belgrade’s commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine

Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Good and open conversation [состоялся] with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. <...> I reiterated that Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which we have been saying clearly and unequivocally since the beginning of the conflict,” Vučić wrote after the meeting on his Instagram page (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

During the talks, the leaders discussed “important issues” both for Serbia and Ukraine, as well as for the region and the whole world, Vučić said. In particular, the presidents touched upon the events in Ukraine, as well as in Kosovo and Metohija. The meeting between Vucic and Zelensky was held in Athens on August 22.

After the start of the military operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed large-scale sanctions against the Russian Federation. The Serbian authorities have repeatedly stressed that they respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but at the same time they are not going to join the anti-Russian sanctions.

At the same time, Vucic said that Belgrade was paying a high price for refusing to impose restrictions against Russia. In February he saidthat he does not know how much longer Serbia will be able to go without sanctions against Russia. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic then notedthat joining the sanctions is the main condition for Serbia’s progress towards EU membership.

In the Kremlin declared about the unprecedented pressure on the leadership of Serbia from Western countries. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia highly appreciates the position of Belgrade.

In August Vučić declaredthat the West “cannot defeat Russia on the battlefield.” At the same time, he doubted that Moscow would be able to get what it wanted in the military and political sense, and called on the parties to a truce.