Serbian and Russian foreign ministers meet in Belgrade

Serbian and Russian foreign ministers meet in Belgrade

Dačić on Monday afternoon welcomed Lavrov at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport, and the Russian official later laid a wreath at a memorial to the Soviet soldiers who fought to liberate Belgrade in 1944.

During his visit Lavrov also met with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and President Tomislav Nikolić.

According to an announcement from Moscow, Lavrov and Serbian officials discussed "current international and pan-European issues and the situation in the Balkans."

Bilateral cooperation was another topic, particularly "expansion of political cooperation in the spirit of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Russia and Serbia, where trade and economic cooperation occupy an important place," said the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin laid wreaths at the memorials dedicated to Belgrade's liberators and Soviet soldiers in Belgrade on Monday.

After the wreath-laying ceremony with high state and military honors, and the playing of the national anthems of Serbia and the Russian Federation, Lavrov and Vulin wrote in the memorial site's guest book at the Liberators of Belgrade cemetery.

Russia's foreign minister said that he admires the courage of Soviet and Yugoslav soldiers who liberated Belgrade, and respects the people of Serbia for preserving the memory of the fallen heroes.

After the ceremony, members of the right-wing group Srpski Sabor Zavetnici presented to the Russian foreign minister a T-shirt with the slogan “Serbs and Russians, brothers forever”, chanting “Russia, Russia".

During his visit to Belgrade, Lavrov is also scheduled to meet Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.