EU blasts Serbia Deputy PM Vulin’s meeting with Russia's Putin

The Balkan Service of Radio Liberty reported the information.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vulin's meeting with Putin is reportedly scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 3-6.

"The European Union has been crystal clear with our partners: Relations with Russia cannot be business as usual after Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine," Brussels commented on these plans.

At the same time, they emphasized that the EU wants to count on all candidate countries as reliable European partners with common principles and values in security issues.

Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević said that he had seen the announcement of the meeting in the media, but believes that "it is nothing epochal or so terrible" about Vulin's meeting with Putin in Russia.

"We have not broken off diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation; it is not forbidden for someone to meet with representatives of the Russian Federation," Vučević said.

He added that Serbia does not encourage war in Ukraine and does not support the violation of the country's territorial integrity.

"We have voted for all the resolutions confirming Ukraine's integrity, but we are not giving up our friendship with the Russian Federation, we have not imposed sanctions, we have not expelled the ambassador. On the contrary, we maintain normal communication," he summarized.

• Recently, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that he does not maintain close ties with Russian leader Putin and assured that his country is not a Russian "Trojan horse" in Europe.