The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, visited Ukraine for the first time, where he offered help in the reconstruction of cities destroyed by the war at the Ukraine - Southeast Europe summit. The visit comes at a time when Russia accuses Serbia of supplying ammunition to Ukraine
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude in Odessa to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić because of his initiative to help Ukraine's recovery efforts by having Serbia take over the sponsorship of the reconstruction of several Ukrainian settlements.
As part of the Ukraine - Southeastern Europe Summit, Zelensky said on his Instagram account that it was a "really effective form of cooperation" and added that he was looking forward to positive results.
He stated that he had discussed with Vučić the mutual support of the two countries on the way to the European Union, bilateral cooperation and the reconstruction of Ukraine.
"This is President Vučić's first visit to Ukraine and it is really important to be here in Ukraine and witness the war firsthand," Zelensky wrote.
He added that Kyiv appreciates Serbia's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Vučić stated that Serbia would like to rebuild one or two cities or a smaller region in Ukraine.
Vucic 🇷🇸 offering to rebuild Ukrainian 🇺🇦 cities, while our own are crumbling, while our Russian brothers fight Western-backed Nazis, is the lowest act of betrayal. Serbia doesn't belong there! Serbian people stand with Russia, not with NATO!
🇷🇸🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/HRoJDRK3Hf
- Based Serbia (@SerbiaBased) June 11, 2025
Russia's accusations
The question is how Moscow views this step forward by the President of Serbia, because at the end of May the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation accused Serbia of continuing to supply ammunition to Ukraine "despite its officially declared neutrality".
In a statement on the SVR website, published on May 28, the names of several Serbian companies engaged in the production of weapons and whose ammunition allegedly came into the possession of the Ukrainian army were listed.
"The largest companies of the national military industry, including 'Jugoimport SDPR', 'Zenitprom', 'Krusik', 'Sofag', 'Reyer DTI', 'Sloboda', 'Prvi Partizan' and others, are participating in the 'death strip', organized in Serbia - a friendly country of Russia -," the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service announced.
Serbian specialized industry companies supplied "hundreds of thousands of shells for VBR and howitzers, as well as millions of bullets for small arms."
How did weapons from Serbia end up in Ukraine?
In the research of "Vremen", it was discovered that the business of exporting arms and ammunition from Serbia to Ukraine is well integrated.
The initial chain involves the purchase of weapons in Serbia by American importers - most often "unclassified military goods" through the state-owned company Jugoimport SDPR. SIPRI data show that 267 artillery systems, 3.200 rockets, 5 armored vehicles and about 16 million small-caliber ammunition were exported.
Although weapons from Serbia are purchased for the needs of the US military, researcher from SIPRI Ja Katarina Đokić points out that "it is reasonable to assume that the United States transfers weapons from Serbia to a third party".
Vremen's research concluded that after the purchase, through opaque intermediary networks (including private international firms and domestic traders close to the authorities), weapons are re-exported to Ukraine.
The Serbian state leadership persistently denied these allegations, and the president repeated several times that there is a possibility that the "magical" weapon ended up in Ukraine, but that "has absolutely nothing to do with Serbia."
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