BELGRADE, August 8. /TASS/. Belgrade will do everything possible to assist Kiev in its swift accession to the European Union, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated after a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky in Belgrade.

"We want Ukraine to open all clusters [of EU accession negotiations] as soon as possible and to close them as quickly as possible. We have had no problems with this, and there will be none in the future. On the contrary, we will do everything in our power to help Ukraine on its European path," the Serbian leader noted.

Zelensky arrived in Belgrade on August 7. He was met at the airport by Serbia's Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Dedovic-Handanovic. Earlier on August 8, in the presence of Zelensky and Vucic, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of animal health and food safety was signed between the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and the relevant Ukrainian state service for food safety and consumer protection.

Serbia itself has held candidate status for EU membership since 2012, with accession negotiations ongoing since 2014. In July of this year, Vucic expressed Belgrade's disappointment with the fact that over the past five years the country has not opened a single new chapter in EU accession negotiations.