The Belgrade tightrope: How Serbia’s president balances friendship with Moscow and support for Zelensky

Aleksandar Vučić, the Serbian president, has maintained strong relationships with both Moscow and Kyiv. Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Belgrade for closed-door talks with Vučić, a move not possible without Western support in Ukraine's war efforts. Both leaders affirmed their respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty in their public statements.

While no decision was made on military cooperation between Serbia and Ukraine, there have been reports of a possible Serbian-Ukrainian drone development project, possibly funded by the UAE. The visit to Belgrade came as Ukraine appeared to be reaching a turning point in the war, according to some analysts. Moscow sought to downplay the significance of the summit, shifting the focus to the remarks made by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung journalist Michael Martens during a press conference.

Martens asked Zelensky about helping "kill more Russians," which drew an angry rebuke from the Russian embassy in Germany. Russian officials condemned the journalist for his "ambiguous phrasing," accusing him of "killing Russians." The Russian embassy in Germany threatened the journalist with prosecution on charges of incitement of hatred or enmity.

Despite this controversy, the visit of Zelensky to Belgrade is not merely an election stunt, as it was planned long in advance, and Serbia's political contacts with Ukraine have been intensifying in recent years.