Vucic on Not Meeting with Putin: I Believe It Is Not the Right Time

Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade, June 24 2024 (BETAPHOTO/Milan Obradovic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in Belgrade, on July 5, that he had not met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because he believed “it is not the right time nor moment.”

Speaking at a press conference in the Palace of Serbia, Vucic said that in the past two and a half years he had been invited to visit Russia together with Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik.

“Dodik visits Russia quite often, and whenever he goes I get invited, too. I believed that it was neither the right time nor moment, as I tried to protect Serbia’s hard-earned position of being the only European state to not introduce sanctions against Russia,” Vucic said, explaining this as “a personal choice” and thanking "our Russian friends” for the invitations.

Vucic denied allegations by the Nova newspaper that Putin did not want to talk with him during this week’s visit to Belgrade by deputy Russian defense minister Alexander Grushko. “Whenever President Putin expressed a wish to talk, my answer was positive. Whenever I expressed a wish to talk with President Putin, his answer was positive, too,” Vucic said.