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Serbia expects Russian foreign minister’s visit soon — president

Belgrade is also still waiting for a response about Russian president's visit

BELGRADE, October 16. /TASS/. Serbia expects Russian Foreign Minsiter Sergey Lavrov to pay a visit to the country soon, President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters on Thursday.

"Minister Lavrov will come to Belgrade in any case. Serbia has kind, wonderful relations with the Russian Federation, but Serbia had assumed the European path, and Serbia is independent and free, which is I am proud of and which is respected by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, [French President] Emmanuel Macron, [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel and [Chinese President] Xi Jinping," he said.

When asked about the previously announced visit by Putin, Vucic said that Belgrade was still waiting for a response from the Russian leader and hoped that the visit would take place despite difficulties caused by the unfavorable situation with the novel coronavirus.

The Serbian presidential press service said earlier that Putin was expected to visit Belgrade in October. Vucic invited Putin to visit Serbia at their meeting in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on December 4, 2019. The Serbian authorities said later that they expected the Russian leader to attend the consecration ceremony of the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade in October. The Kremin administration has never confirmed the date of the visit.

Earlier, a number of pro-Western Serbian media reported that Putin’s visit to Belgrade was cancelled due to Serbia’s rapprochement with the United States. Russia’s Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko strongly rejected those claims.

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