Russian FM arrives in Belgrade; talks to include bilateral relations, economy

Tanjug / Sava Radovanović

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister arrived in Belgrade for the first high-profile visit from Moscow after the September 4 agreement Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdulah Hoti signed at the White House and was due to meet Vucic and other country’s officials.

The talks are believed to include Serbian-Russian relations, the issue of Kosovo and bilateral economic projects, the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, the Belgrade-Novi Sad high-speed railway, the Djerdap 1 hydroelectric power plant, and the Center for Nuclear Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Russian Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine.

 Accompanied by Vucic first attended the lighting of the eternal fire at the Cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade with a flame that was transferred from the Tomb of an Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin walls, and the two laid wreaths at the Eternal Fire monument.

Lavrov and Vucic will later visit the Saint Sava Cathedral and lay flowers on the grave of the Serbian Patriarch Irinej.

Russian Foreign Minister will read a letter from President Vladimir Putin regarding the completion of works on the Cathedral.

Lavrov came after a two-day visit to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, marked by a diplomatic incident when Bosniak Presidency member Sefik Dzaferovic and his Croat counterpart Zeljko Komsic refused to meet Lavrov because he first met with Serb officials in Istocno Sarajevo, where no Bosnian state flag was seen in the room.

Russian Foreign Minister is due to visit Croatia as well.