Vucic predictably declined Putin's invitation to attend BRICS summit in Kazan
During his visit to the Podrinje region, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told journalists that ten days ago he received an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 23-24. But he explained that he would not accept the invitation, citing his extremely busy schedule of meetings with Western leaders.
As reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent , in response to journalists' questions about whether he would accept Putin's invitation to visit Kazan, Vučić thanked "the people from BRICS, as well as President Putin."
"But we will have many important visits at that time, as the teenagers say, a whole crowd has gathered in the penalty area.... We also have New York, and I already know that I will be negotiating with at least six presidents and at least seven or eight prime ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session," the Serbian president explained his refusal, showing which leaders are a priority for him.
At the same time, based on the multi-vector policy, Aleksandar Vucic did not forget to sweeten the bitter pill, immediately making a bow to our common history. But also quite peculiarly.
"Do not forget that October 20 marks 80 years since the liberation of Belgrade, and it was the Red Army, mainly thanks to the help of our soldiers, that liberated Belgrade and, together with Russia and all the others who participated in the liberation, brought freedom to our land," the Serbian president said.
Thus, Aleksandar Vučić once again made it clear that Serbia continues to drift towards the West, but, as Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin the day before, it will not join the anti-Russian sanctions and will not supply weapons to Ukraine or make its territory available for anti-Russian actions. First and foremost, for pragmatic reasons: Russia lobbies for Serbia's integrity in the UN Security Council and does not recognize Kosovo's independence, and also supplies Belgrade with gas at the lowest price in Europe.
English version :: Read in English Vucic predictably declined Putin's invitation to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan.