Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday revealed plans to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin the bilateral and regional relations, specifically matters pertaining to Kosovo and trade, and thanked Russia for the early delivery of contracted Mi-35 helicopters ahead of the presidential talks
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2019) Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday revealed plans to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin the bilateral and regional relations, specifically matters pertaining to Kosovo and trade, and thanked Russia for the early delivery of contracted Mi-35 helicopters ahead of the presidential talks.
Later in the day, Vucic and Putin are scheduled to hold talks in the Russian resort city of Sochi.
"I hope to have a good meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is an important meeting for Serbia as we will discuss all key issues, such as Kosovo and Metohija, the region and bilateral cooperation, and learn Putin's opinion about the general political situation in Europe, Eurasia and the world," Vucic told the Serbian state broadcaster, adding that "of key importance for [Belgrade] is to continue discussing the bilateral [Russian-Serbian] relations after Serbia signed a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union to see how we can enhance trade."
He specified that trade between Russian and Serbia in 2018 totaled $3.6 billion. Serbia is the largest importer of Russian military hardware in Europe. Earlier this week, reports not confirmed by the Serbian Defense Ministry claimed that four contracted Mi-35 helicopters reportedly arrived at the Batajnica air base 15 miles northwest from the center of Belgrade from Russia.
"We thank Russia for the early delivery of Mi-35 helicopters. These are one of the world's best military helicopters, and they will be presented to the public in the coming days," Vucic confirmed, adding that "the Russian side delivered them earlier than scheduled, and we view it as yet another gesture of friendship toward Serbia ahead of the visit to Sochi."
The free trade agreement with the EAEU established mutual preferences for Serbia in trade with Armenia and Kyrgyzstan and brought its existing trade agreements with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russian under a unified umbrella of tariffs and terms. As a country without a membership in the World Trade Organization, Serbia is expected to especially benefit from the legal and institutional framework of the EAEU in terms of guarantees of trade transparency, stability and predictability.
