BELGRADE, September 7. /TASS/. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin has said that his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on September 4 showed how high the Russian leader values this Balkan country.

"It is a big honor for me, but it speaks volumes about his attitude towards Serbia. I am simply a deputy prime minister and he is president of the Russian Federation. It is not his level to meet with a deputy prime minister, but it is his way of demonstrating how he cherishes Serbia. The delegation with President Putin featured [Foreign] Minister [Sergey] Lavrov, and Putin’s foreign policy aide, [Yury] Ushakov," said Vulin, as quoted in a statement released by his press service.

The deputy prime minister pointed out that the presence of high-ranking officials at the meeting was meaningful for Serbia. "It was his way of showing how much he cares about Serbia," Vulin said.

Earlier, the Serbian deputy prime minister said that Serbia and Russia enjoy the relationship of strategic partnership, which nobody can affect. It is not worth trying to make mischief between the leaders of the two countries, who are friends, he emphasized.