BELGRADE, March 21. /TASS/. Serbia is interested in developing relations with Russia on the basis of traditional friendship as it meets the country’s vital interests, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"For us, the development of friendly relations with Russia and China, their maintenance and preservation is a vital national interest," Dacic told reporters.

The top Serbian diplomat pointed out that the volume of trade between Russia and Serbia amounts to $2.9 billion. "This is small for our capabilities, but it also hinders many in the West, who have 10-20-30 and 100 times larger exchanges with Russia," he noted, adding that Belgrade does not want to "provoke anyone in the West or anywhere else," but will not give up "national interests, which many Western countries do not accept according to the principle of double standards."

"We are told that our territorial integrity is not important for us, but for us it is the most important thing, and that is why we must maintain friendly relations with the countries that can help us the most, namely Russia and China," the Serbian foreign minister concluded.

Earlier, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said that Dacic held talks with Lavrov on Thursday, during which "they discussed the improvement of bilateral relations between the two countries, which are characterized by traditional friendship, cultural, spiritual and historical closeness of our two peoples, and are based on mutual trust and respect." On March 21, the top Russian diplomat turns 74.

On the same day, an important sports event for both countries will take place - a friendly match between the national football teams of Russia and Serbia will be held in Moscow. Earlier, Dacic's press service announced that he would attend the match at Lavrov's invitation.

The Russian minister himself is an avid football fan. Knowing Lavrov's love for the sport, Dacic gave him a personalized jersey of the Serbian national team number 10 in 2018. That same year, the top diplomats met on the sidelines of the World Cup in Russia.