Zelenskyy may visit Serbia for first time since start of full-scale war
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (photo: facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
At the end of this week, Serbia expects a visit from a Ukrainian delegation that may be personally led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. If information is confirmed, this will be the president's first visit to the country since 2019, Serbian broadcaster N1 reports.
There is currently no official confirmation of Zelenskyy's upcoming trip to Belgrade. At the same time, diplomatic sources in the Serbian capital expect that countries may soon sign a joint memorandum of understanding on trade cooperation.
Until now, contacts between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic mainly took place on the sidelines of international political summits.
First direct talks between the presidents of Serbia and Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war took place at the end of August 2023 in Athens during the Ukraine – Southeast Europe Summits.
At one time, Vucic stated that Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine and called the conversation constructive. However, Belgrade refused for the first time to sign the joint summit declaration because of a clause calling for sanctions against Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on May 17 that Europe must be part of negotiations. According to the head of state, the EU needs to have a strong voice and presence in this process, and it is worth determining who will represent it.
In addition, the Ukrainian president stressed that strikes on the Moscow region are a clear signal to the Kremlin that it should not confront Ukraine and wage an unjust, aggressive war against it.
Zelenskyy noted that drone strikes on Moscow and the region on May 17 are fair responses by Ukraine to the prolongation of the war by the aggressor country and strikes on Ukrainian cities and communities.
