On Wednesday, December 4, negotiations will be held in Sochi between the presidents of Russia and Serbia, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Vucic. According to the Kremlin’s press service, the visit of the Serbian leader to the Russian Federation will be of a working nature, and “topical issues of bilateral cooperation”, as well as regional and international issues will be discussed. Note that this is the third meeting of Putin and Vucic this year.

“This visit will play a very large role,” said Elena Guskova, head of the Center for the Study of the Modern Balkan Crisis of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in a conversation with RT. - During the recent meetings of Alexander Vuchich with Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, a number of documents were signed. But now, most likely, it may already be a matter of investing specific content in these documents. ”

As the President of Serbia emphasized on the eve of his trip to Russia, it is quite possible that he and Vladimir Putin will propose “their themes at this meeting.”

“We are ready to discuss any issue. We want to build good, best possible relations with Russia with mutual respect and trust, ”said Vučić.

"Provocation and an attempt to substitute"

In anticipation of his visit to Sochi, Alexander Vučić noted that an informational flush that Russian intelligence allegedly worked with Serbian military personnel could have been deliberate in light of his upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Recall that the earlier Serbian edition of Blic, owned by the German-Swiss company Ringier Axel Springer Media AG, distributed a video taken a year ago in which then Colonel George Kleban, who worked at the Russian Embassy in the capital of Serbia, transferred money to the Serbian military.

The Russian diplomatic mission called the publication a "provocation." Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized that such “sensations” always appear before important meetings.

Experts, in turn, admit that both Western “external forces” and some representatives of the Serbian opposition can stand behind this action.

“Not everyone likes the current high intensity of contacts between Serbian and Russian leaders,” Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Politics Foundation, said in an interview with RT. “This is actually a provocation and an attempt to substitute Vucic, but in my opinion, he reacted very intelligently to all this.”

On the eve of the visit of the Serbian president, Ambassador of the Republic to the Russian Federation Miroslav Lazanski said in an interview with Interfax that he considers this topic closed.

  • Alexander Vuchich
  • Reuters
  • © Marko Djurica

Elena Guskova drew attention to the fact that the informational flush affecting the Russian Ministry of Defense took place against the backdrop of intensified military cooperation between Moscow and Belgrade, which, according to her, "has been gaining momentum in recent years."

Defense cooperation

According to Miroslav Lazanski, the meeting of the Presidents of Russia and Serbia will also discuss issues of energy, economic and military-technical cooperation.

  • In Serbia, the active phase of the joint Russian-Serbian air defense exercise “Slavic shield-2019” began
  • © Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In addition, the ambassador added that at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, Serbia expects to receive the Russian “Pantsir” anti-aircraft missile-cannon complex (ZRPK). Also, according to Lazanski, Belgrade is interested in other types of Russian weapons. In particular, the diplomat emphasized that “Serbia would like to acquire the S-400 air defense system.”

In October, the purchase by Serbia of one “Shell” was confirmed by Alexander Vučić. He also noted that Belgrade would like to put into service the S-400 complex, but Serbia cannot buy it because of the high cost. Both air defense systems then took part in joint Russian-Serbian exercises on the territory of the Balkan country.

Earlier, Russia transferred Serbia, as part of military-technical assistance, MiG-29 fighters, Mi-17 helicopters, BRDM-2. A batch of T-72 tanks is expected.

Also, according to Miroslav Lazanski, Serbia would like to continue training “cadets and officers” in Russian military universities.

As Elena Guskova notes, in addition to expanding military-technical cooperation, the issue of the status of the Russian-Serbian humanitarian center of the Ministry of Emergencies in the city of Niš can be raised at the meeting of the presidents.

“The question of the diplomatic status of the team of the Ministry of Emergencies remains open. For several years now, the Serbian side has not been granting this status, I think, because it is afraid of a reaction from the West, which is very concerned about how the EMERCOM base does not grow into a Russian military base in the Balkans. But we expect that perhaps this time the document on the provision of the diplomatic status will still be signed, ”the expert says.

Economic aspect

Political scientists also recall that Serbia remains a close partner of Russia in the energy field. The European part of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline from the border with Bulgaria to Hungary should pass through the territory of the republic. Earlier, Alexander Vucic, during a meeting with Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, said that the Serbian part of the pipeline would be completed before the end of this year.

  • © turkstream.info

Belgrade is a reliable buyer of Russian gas, analysts say. In November, Serbian authorities reported that they had reached an agreement with Moscow to expand the capacity of the Banatsky Dvor underground gas storage facility located in the republic from 750 million to 2 billion cubic meters.

In anticipation of the meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Serbian president emphasized that bilateral economic cooperation will be one of the main topics of the upcoming talks.

According to Serbian officials, trade between our country and Serbia is growing. So, in October, during a visit to Belgrade by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the President of Serbia said that in 2018 this figure amounted to $ 3.06 billion, which is 18.6% higher than the level of 2017.

However, according to experts, Russia and Serbia need to increase bilateral trade, including in order for political cooperation between the two countries to gain a solid economic basis. According to Professor MGIMO, political analyst Elena Ponomareva, for both countries, "it is very important to overcome the level of € 4 billion."

“Peace and cooperation”

Behind the lines of the official announcement about the discussion of “regional and international issues”, according to Elena Ponomareva, there is a desire of the Russian and Serbian leaders to exchange views on the most important topics for both countries.

“Positions will be discussed regarding the Ukrainian crisis, the situation in Syria, the behavior of Albanians in the Balkans, and, in particular, on the territorial issue of Serbia - Kosovo,” Ponomareva suggested in an interview with RT.

Moscow, as you know, supports the territorial integrity of Serbia and does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state.

As Elena Ponomareva notes, Belgrade is now under serious pressure from the West, especially NATO, but at the same time the country is striving to maintain military-political neutrality. However, after the process of accession to the North Atlantic Alliance of Northern Macedonia is completed, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina will remain outside NATO from the republics of the former Yugoslavia.

“We have two allies in the Balkans. These are Serbia and the Republika Srpska, which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And the question of further expansion of NATO rests precisely on the Serbian factor, ”Ponomareva stated.

This point of view is shared by Elena Guskova. She notes that statements about the “destabilizing” role of Russia in the Balkans, which in recent years have often been voiced by Western politicians and expert centers, are caused precisely by the desire to break ties with the Russian Federation that are important for Serbs.

So, last summer, Russian “tactics of destabilization” were announced at the Institute for Security Studies in the European Union.

According to Deutsche Welle, on December 1, during a visit to Kosovo, German Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer “warned” about the growing influence of Russia in the region. In turn, the official website of the German Ministry of Defense also notes that, according to the German minister, "the role of Russia" is one of the reasons that supposedly "the conflict in the region is still not fully resolved."

  • Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in Kosovo
  • globallookpress.com
  • © Britta Pedersen / dpa

“Russia's influence is really growing,” says Elena Guskova. - Only it just helps to stabilize. And where US influence is increasing, instability begins. And all the peoples in the Balkans feel this. They understand that where Russia is somehow present, there will be no war, but peace and cooperation. ”