The US Department of State (Dash) told Radio Free Europe (REL) on Thursday that it is aware of a meeting between the Foreign Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, earlier in the day in Moscow.
“We do not believe that a country should offer [Russian President Vladimir] Putin a platform to promote, or justify, his ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine,” DASH told Radio Free Europe.
Dacic traveled to the Russian capital at the invitation of Lavrov to watch a friendly soccer match between the national teams of Serbia and Russia on Thursday afternoon.
Serbia became the first European national team to play a football match in Russia since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Official Belgrade has refused to become part of the European Union’s sanctions – although it intends to join it – since the bloc began sanctioning Russia two years ago over its invasion of Ukraine.
After the meeting with Lavrov, Dacic said that maintaining relations with Russia and China is a “vital state interest” for Serbia.
Dacic, the current head of diplomacy in Serbia, publicly defends the position that Serbia does not impose sanctions on Russia, although it is requested by the European Union.
Official Belgrade counts on the support of Russia and China in international organizations and institutions for not recognizing Kosovo as an independent state.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence – officially announced by Pristina in 2008 – but since 2011, it has been conducting dialogue with it, under the mediation of the European Union, for the normalization of neighboring relations.
In Moscow, Daciqi thanked Russia for its stance and firm support for Serbia regarding its territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as for the Kosovo issue.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said before the meeting that Russia is interested in “preventing new crises” in the Balkans, according to the Beta news agency.
Lavrov is said to have told Dacic that he wants to hear from him an assessment of the situation in the Balkans, which he assessed as “serious”.
