Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky he stayed in Serbia August 7 in the evening and August 8 in the morning. The very next day, almost no one remembered the visit.
Most of the media "correctly" covered the event. About the same as when the president of the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates, Sakr Gubash, came in June. Nevertheless, Gubaš, unlike Zelenski, was organized to speak in Assembly of Serbia. Well, whoever remembers that, will also remember that Zelenski was coming.
If anyone thought that the visit of the president of a country that has been at war for almost five years might deserve a little more attention - they were mistaken. Also, as of now, there is no confirmation that this meeting will mark a turning point in the relations between Serbia and Ukraine, Serbia and Russia, or Serbia and Of the European Union.
From the start, this visit was different than when statesmen come, whom the president likes to present as friends. There was no mass welcome, as in the case of Vladimir Putin, who only briefly declared: "Spasiba za druzbjuba". Ivica Dacic did not sing into Zelenski's ear as he did in 2017 during the visit of Turkish President Erdogan. There was no tour of the cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade, Zelenski was not presented with a purebred dog, nor was it announced whether there were any gifts at all... Speeches at Kalemegdan and visits on rafts with ministers in white shirts were also absent.
There was only a press conference that was painful to follow, unless you really had to. There was no cordiality, everyone emphasized what was important to him. Common message - we respect each other and want to join the European Union. We keep quiet about unpleasant topics.
There is one episode. Crni Gruja where Gruja goes to the Turkish effendi and asks him for some favors, he says: "We are human beings, we will make an agreement". And he replies: "Fashion, fashion, fashion, and I follow fashion too."
IT WASN'T ABOUT WEAPONS, WE ONLY SELL SOYBEAN FROM SACHMA
"It is important for us not only when we import iron ore, but also mercantile soybeans and soybean meal and flax seeds and when we export fruit seedlings, sunflower seeds, baby food."
Who said this and at what historical moment could be the five million question on some future quiz. If not that, then at least it will be possible to study in doctoral studies, the topic - diplomacy in Serbia in the twenties of the 21st century.
The sentence belongs to Aleksandar Vučić after the meeting with Zelenski, who came for the first official visit to Serbia.
Before him, Ukrainian leader Petar Poroshenko met with Vučić in Serbia in July 2018. Vučić, as if justifying himself, said that you could not hear a bad word about Serbia from Volodymyr Zelenskiy and that he believes that cooperation will be stronger in mining and energy, and especially in agriculture.
It is interesting that the president, who mostly speaks in the first person singular and counts the number of times he met Putin or shook Trump's hand, used the expression "we as hosts" after the meeting with the Ukrainian president. After all, Zelenskiy was met at the airport by Minister of Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović, although Russian President Putin, Chinese Xi Jinping, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, European Council President Antonio Costa and EC President Ursula von der Leyen were met by the President of Serbia personally.
Nothing particularly new has been heard about the relationship between the two countries since the previous meeting on July 15 in Kyiv. Then Vučić boasted that he was the only one who did not sign the joint declaration, and that he had talked with Zelenski about the railways and that he had invited him as a guest. It was striking that the Serbian president spoke again about economic cooperation, and the Ukrainian said that 13 people had been killed in Ukraine in the last 24 hours and that "the tragedy of Russian aggression against independent Ukraine" is in the middle.
Vučić hopes that after the end of the war the cooperation will be even stronger and bigger, Zelenski thanks for the help and for the fact that the Serbian people accepted many Ukrainians. The two presidents didn't mention Russian President Vladimir Putin, and if it weren't for the press, that name would have been floating somewhere like a big pink elephant in the room. Sanctions against Russia were not mentioned until the high-ranking guest left, and then Vučić again boasted that he was the only leader who had not done so.
However, there have been statements that Ukraine needs missiles, and that the two countries respect each other's territorial integrity. Vučić, who likes to say that he is a "political veteran", predicted another difficult winter, and Zelenski begged Europe not to allow Russia to earn billions on weapons.
The public service asked a question about Kosovo - so that the main news would be that Ukraine maintains the position that there is no recognition of an independent state. And the supposedly spontaneous question of a German journalist "how to kill more Russians" was heard, which has already received too much attention and which Russia assessed as an open incitement to aggression against the Russian people. Apart from a mute grimace, the host did not respond to that question. That's why he announced the news that starting in September, drones will be produced in Serbia together with the Israelis. Thus, everything that was planned was fulfilled, the two presidents did each other a favor, there is no harm, and maybe there will be some small benefit.
HEADLINES ABOUT THE BEST DIPLOMAT THE STATESMEN COME "ON YOUR FEET"
If the visit had to be mentioned, then the thesis was used in the pro-regime media that only Vučić can do this - that Zelensky can come to his feet until he imposes sanctions on Russia, that he builds an arms factory with Israel while sending a minister to the funeral of the murdered Ayatollah Khamenei, that he can work with Trump and Xi without consequences for his own government and country. The meeting was followed by headlines: "Vučić masterfully played this diplomatic game", "Zelensky in Belgrade: There was no talk of military cooperation", "Vučić: We don't sit on more chairs, we only have our Serbian chair".
Why was it important to underline that there was no mention of military cooperation?
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vučić claimed that Serbia would not export weapons to any of the parties to the conflict. Later, on several occasions, the world media announced that Serbian weapons had been seen in Ukraine, but the Serbian side repeated that it could not influence where the sold weapons would end up.
In an interview with the "Financial Times" from June 2023, Vučić stated that he is aware that Serbian ammunition can indirectly end up in Ukraine, stressing that it is a matter of legal contracts and economic interest. Stating that Serbia behaves militarily neutrally, Vučić emphasized that weapons are sold to authorized end users, with the awareness of possible re-export.
Last year, Vučić said that "our factories must live and work", that 23 thousand people work in the state-owned industry, and that he does not have any data that would confirm that Serbian weapons from Africa reach Ukraine. "We work only for Serbia and that is our job, he said then. "We are an independent and independent country".
However, it has never been denied that Serbia helps Ukraine, mostly through the "first lady", although this function does not formally exist and is not used when we send aid to other countries. In September 2022, Tamara Vučić, in her capacity as the wife of the President of Serbia, spoke with Olena Zelenska and announced that Serbia will donate two fully equipped medical vehicles to Ukraine. After Olena Zelenska's visit in 2024, Serbia donated 5.000 laptops and tablets for Ukrainian students, for which Zelenska publicly thanked the Government of Serbia and stated that the help was agreed upon at a meeting with the Vučić couple.
Before this official meeting, Aleksandar Vučić and Volodymyr Zelensky met at least five times, mostly at meetings of the leaders of Southeast European countries and the EU. And it was always the same - they greeted each other, had a hearty talk, but in the end Vučić did not sign the joint declaration introducing additional sanctions against Russia. Generally, after such meetings, Vučić met with the Russian ambassador immediately in the morning, but this time he did not. Instead, on the same day that Zelenski flew away, Vučić went to Belegish, where he repeated that we are the only country that has not imposed sanctions on Russia, that Ukraine has not and will not recognize Kosovo, that it is the biggest blow for Albanians in the last 15 years, and that drones will be produced that will be Serbian, and Israel is only helping. The shouts of "Aco Srbina" were a confirmation that the people understood which messages the president singled out as essential.
THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT TRIBINE AND VULIN HAVE THEIR VIEWS
The fans of the Belgrade "Crvena zvezda", the team that Vučić openly supports and from whose stands no derogatory shouts at his account can be heard, reacted to Zelenski's arrival as if on order. During the match with Novi Pazar, they held up the banner "While you welcome the Nazis in Belgrade, the Serbs are bleeding on the crucified Kosovo" and waved the flags of Russia and Serbia. Quite enough to send a message, without mentioning who is receiving whom, or what exactly Zelenski's visit has to do with the fate of Kosovo Serbs.
On that very day, one of Vučić's closest associates and ideologue of the "Serbian world", Aleksandar Vulin, spoke to the Russian media. He explained to RIA Novosti that Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Serbia is not in accordance with the wishes of the citizens of Serbia and is the result of pressure from Brussels and "revenge of the EU" due to the refusal of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to sign the "anti-Russian declaration" from the Kyiv summit held in July. Considering that Vulin does not have a significant state function, but acts as a leader of the Socialist Movement, no one explained his statements. Right-wing "intellectuals" were also heard, who stated in an open letter that this visit could "cause immeasurable national damage" and spoil relations with Russia. But as soon as the guest left, everyone fell silent.
After Belegiš, the president continued his tour of Prijepolje, Nova Varoš, Priboj, Arilje, family households, bridges, promising asphalt, jobs, factories, money. Every day since the departure of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president has been speaking for several hours a day from the television stations that follow him. Certainly not a word about foreign policy was heard from the people who came to beg him for help.
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