Serbian president Alexandar Vucci said that the comparison drawn by Putin in regards to Kosovo and the separatist regions of Ukraine has strictly damaged Belgrade’s position in the international arena.

During a long speech held this Friday at the Serbian Presidential Palace, Vucic said that now, the pressure to recognize Kosovo has gone up that much more.

“Our situation has changed for the worse after the statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Not because he intended to hurt Serbia but because he raised the Kosovo argument to say something else entirely and to protect Russia’s interests,” said the Serbian president.

In addition, Vucic said that Putin only mentioned Kosovo as a precedent to justify the claims that Moscow has over the Russian-speaking territories of Ukraine.

He maintained that even though the West rejects the argument made by Putin, Serbia is being pressured even more than before to recognize Kosovo as soon as possible.

“Now, we’ll be under immense pressure in order to admit that Kosovo isn’t the same as what happened in Ukraine,” – said Vucic.

In this entire situation, Vucic said that he is being portrayed as a ‘small Putin’ whereas Kurti is trying to “play the role of a Zelenskyy in the region”.