Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to visit Moscow on May 25 next year, when the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II will be marked, Serbian Radio Television (RTS) reports. “I invite you to participate in the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War, which will be held in Moscow in May 2025,” Putin was quoted as saying. The cabinet of the president of Serbia neither confirmed nor denied this information when asked by Radio Free Europe for confirmation. Among other things, Putin is said to have mentioned in the invitation that he is convinced that preserving “the memory of the great victory will strengthen the common determination” to increase “constructive cooperation, with the aim of guaranteeing peace and security on the planet”. .
Putin also invited Vucic to the BRICS summit held in October in the Russian city of Kazan. However, Vučić did not respond to the invitation, saying that Serbia would host some important guests in that period.
Those days, Serbia hosted the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leye, as well as leaders of the EU states, among them, the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk and the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. A delegation of the Government of Serbia participated in the BRICS summit, which is considered as Russia’s attempt to create a counterweight to the influence of the West in the world. The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vullin, participated in the summit and then met Putin. Vullin is under American sanctions, among other things, for close ties with Russia. The EU had reacted after this meeting, saying that all countries that have the status of a candidate country for the European bloc, “must refrain from contacts with Russia and its president”.
Although Serbia enjoys this status, it is the only one in the Western Balkans that has not joined Western sanctions to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine, and continues to cultivate ties with officials in Moscow.
