Zelenskyy may make first-ever visit to Serbia later this week

A Ukrainian delegation, possibly headed personally by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is expected to visit Serbia later this week, Serbian broadcaster N1 reported, citing diplomatic sources in Belgrade.

Source: European Pravda, citing N1

Details: If confirmed, this would mark Zelenskyy's first visit to Serbia since taking office in 2019 and since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

There has been no official confirmation of a possible visit to Belgrade, but diplomatic sources expect that a joint memorandum of understanding on trade cooperation between the two countries could soon be signed.

So far, contacts between Zelenskyy and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić have mostly taken place during international political summits attended by both leaders.

The first direct talks between the presidents of Serbia and Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war took place in late August 2023 during the Ukraine–South-Eastern Europe summit in Athens. At the time, Vučić said that Serbia would continue to support and respect Ukraine's territorial integrity. He described the talks with Zelenskyy as open, friendly and constructive.

A declaration condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine was adopted and signed at the same summit. Vučić stressed then that he had managed to ensure the declaration did not contain a call for sanctions against Russia.

Background:

• Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Vučić has visited Ukraine only once – on 11 June 2025 in Odesa during the Ukraine–South-Eastern Europe summit.
• Zelenskyy said at the time that Vučić's visit was important because the Serbian president had seen the war with his own eyes.
• Participants in the summit ultimately signed a declaration that "most strongly" condemned Russia's war against Ukraine and called on the international community to "maintain and further strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation".
• Vučić, however, was the only participant who did not sign the declaration.
• Commenting on the decision, he said that in doing so he had "not betrayed Russia".

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